Reborn in 1970, I thrived in Hong Kong.

On April 20, television signal towers were suddenly installed simultaneously in multiple locations in Hong Kong.

On the same day, a film crew called "The Legendary Twins" suddenly moved into Shaw Brothers' studio. The male lead was Patrick Tse, who was very popular in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia at the time. He played two roles - Hua Wuque and Xiao Yu'er.

Wang Tianlin served as both director and producer. More than half of the film and television professionals from Phoenix TV and Phoenix Film Company joined the production team, while the other half were recording the variety show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and producing the cartoon "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf".

On the same day, Li Huai-ren had tea with Ho Sau-shun and Liza Wang at the Peninsula Hotel, and sincerely invited them to join Phoenix TV.

In order to recruit the two, Li Huai-ren not only promised them various incomes as artists, but also sincerely invited Ho Sau-shun to serve as the head of the news department of Phoenix TV, and sincerely invited Liza Wang to serve as the head of the variety show and hosting department, so that the two could earn an extra high salary.

The two gladly accepted the invitation. Liza Wang returned to RTV that same day to resign and transferred to Phoenix TV; Ho Sau-shun transferred the next day. Their breach of contract penalties were all paid in cash by someone arranged by Lee Huai-yan.

After switching sides, the two immediately began working together to assist Wang Tianlin in establishing Phoenix TV.

On April 22, Li Huai-ren invited Jin Yong to have morning tea at the Peninsula Hotel.

Jin Yong entered the private room and, as soon as he sat down, said to Li Huai-ren:

"Mr. Li, we're neighbors and we know each other so well. Is it really necessary to come all the way to the Peninsula Hotel and waste time?"

"What's the matter? Why don't you come downstairs to my office and we can talk?"

Li Huai-ren waved his hand and said:

"Mr. Cha, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing I can do. Some things aren't suitable to be made public right now. There are too many people and too much gossip in the newspapers. I wouldn't dare discuss this with you in Ming Pao or Phoenix Daily."

Everyone has a gossipy streak; it transcends age and social status. Upon hearing this, Jin Yong immediately became interested and looked at Li Huai-ren, asking:

"Mr. Li, what's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?"

Li Huai-ren smiled:

"It's nothing. I'm just inviting Mr. Cha for morning tea. The main reason is that I want to buy the film and television adaptation rights to all of Mr. Cha's martial arts novels. I need to discuss this with you in person."

Jin Yong was taken aback, then quickly realized what he meant and asked in surprise:

"You want the TV adaptation rights too? Mr. Li, did I hear that right? You want the TV adaptation rights? Doesn't that mean you're going to own a TV station? That's big news!"

Li Huai-ren smiled slightly:

"Mr. Cha, the time is not yet right. Please keep this a secret. This is one of the reasons why I insisted on inviting you to the Peninsula Hotel for morning tea."

It was only April 1970, and the adaptation of martial arts films and television series was just beginning, with the copyright market still extremely unregulated.

Jin Yong looked up at Li Huai-ren, his eyes revealing a shrewdness more characteristic of a businessman than a scholar, and said with a smile:

"I have absolutely no idea how much the film and television adaptation rights for the martial arts novels I've written should cost."

I think this is better: how about we set 15% of the profits from movies and TV series as copyright fees?

"I can authorize you for twenty or thirty years, no problem. You can remake it as many times as you want, no problem either. Just give me 15% of the profits each time. It's a great deal. What do you think?"

Li Huai-ren was taken aback. He glanced at Jin Yong, who seemed gentle and harmless, and his defenses crumbled.

"I'll fucking swear! Anyone who says intellectuals can't do business, I'll curse their ancestors for eighteen generations!"

He then recalled an online article he had read in his previous life, which stated that the film and television copyright transactions of Jin Yong's martial arts novels in 1970 were a pinnacle of the battle between the underworld and business acumen.

Its value system goes far beyond ordinary copyright transactions; it involves a complex game of politics, factions, and cross-border capital.

Based on Shaw Brothers' internal accounts, Taiwan's Central Motion Picture Corporation archives, and recollections of those involved, this article provides an in-depth reconstruction of events surrounding Jin Yong's sale of film and television rights to his martial arts novels in 1970:

Jin Yong categorized all his works into different levels and sold the film rights for 20 years and the television rights for 20 years, along with some additional terms.

For example, the SS-level title is "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The film rights fee for 200 years is HK$000, and the television rights fee for 500 years is HK$000. The script must be reviewed by Jin Yong.

The S-level film is "The Return of the Condor Heroes," with a 150-year film copyright fee of HK$000 and a 300-year television copyright fee of HK$000. The special clause is that Yang Guo cannot grow a beard and must provide a written guarantee.

The A-level film is "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber". The film rights fee for 100 years is HK$000 and the television rights fee for 200 years is HK$000. The special clause is that the Wudang Sect setting cannot be modified.

The B-rated film is "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," with a 80-year film rights fee of HK$000 and a 150-year television rights fee of HK$000. A special clause prohibits the filming of the ending of "Invincible East."

The C-rated film is "The Swords of Lovers," with a 30-year film rights fee of HK$000 and a 60-year television rights fee of HK$000. It also requires the purchase of "The White Horse Gallops in the West Wind" as a bundled deal.

In 1970, a Hong Kong worker's monthly salary was about $300. The top copyright fee for a novel was equivalent to 556 years of a worker's income!

Of course, the high price of television broadcasting rights is because it includes resale rights in multiple Southeast Asian countries.

There are several key inside stories behind this transaction. One is the Shaw Brothers' exorbitant monopoly case (November 1970), in which Jin Yong sold the film rights to his trilogy of novels, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," "The Return of the Condor Heroes," and "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," for HK$400,000. The original price was HK$450,000, which was rounded down because Chang Cheh gave him a gift...

Of course, there's also a dark clause here that's unknown to the general public:

Shaw Brothers paid the so-called "cultural protection fee" demanded by Taiwan and also gave Jin Yong 10 shares of Shaw Brothers stock, worth HK$150 at the time. This is why the Condor Trilogy only received HK$000 in the end.

Of course, there were also the unique unspoken rules of the copyright world in Hong Kong during that era—the gang-based extortion system. 14K demanded 10% of the copyright fee as "protection money," otherwise they would burn down film studios and seize the film negatives. In fact, this fee was paid by Jin Yong; he paid HK$5,000 per film in exchange for the Shaw Brothers studios remaining safe!

In his previous life, the ultimate winner in the sale of the film and television rights to Jin Yong's novels was naturally Jin Yong himself. He used the copyright revenue to take control of Ming Pao, and in 1972, its market value soared to HK$20 million.

When the Shaw Brothers accountant packed $400,000 in cash into an alligator leather suitcase, a secret report addressed to a certain department in Taiwan was hidden at the bottom of the suitcase; and in the basement of the mansion that Jin Yong bought in Happy Valley with this money, there were blue and white porcelains sent by another faction—this was no copyright transaction, but clearly a golden passageway for various forces during this period.

In this copyright transaction, Jin Yong played both sides skillfully, and ultimately the numbers jumping on the calculator in his study had already altered the essence of the martial arts world.

This copyright transaction took place in November 1970 in the previous life, and it's only April now.

Li Huai-ren purchased the film and television rights to all of Jin Yong's martial arts novels in advance because the earlier the purchase, the lower the copyright fees.

The main reason was that he wanted to cut off the source of the problem and completely eliminate TVB's reliance on adapting Jin Yong's martial arts novels to save the day.

Li Huai-ren had watched countless TV dramas in his previous life. Phoenix TV prioritizes content and it wouldn't be difficult for it to defeat TVB and RTV with good programs. What he feared was that TVB would often resort to making Jin Yong martial arts dramas to save the day and disgust him.

Therefore, he had to cut off the source of the problem by intercepting the copyrights of all of Jin Yong's martial arts novels. Not only that, he also planned to take over the film and television copyrights of martial arts novels by Gu Long, Zhuge Qingyun, Wolong Sheng, Liang Yusheng, and others.

In Li Huai-ren's view, it is never a good thing for Phoenix TV to have a monopoly in Hong Kong. Ideally, Phoenix TV should be the strongest and most profitable, while TVB and RTV should be barely hanging on.

Therefore, he had to strike at the root of the problem by intercepting the Jin Yong dramas and other martial arts dramas that TVB had been so successful with in his previous life. He absolutely could not give TVB a chance to breathe.