Shadow Empire

Chapter 733: Cocktail Party and Catching One

A few days later, Lance was invited to a cocktail party about investment.

For the current Jingang City, if Mayor Williams is the visible "mountain", he stands above the sky of Jingang City!

Then, Lance is an invisible giant peak, hidden in everyone's heart.

You can't see him, and them.

The pedestrians hurrying along the road, the young people gathering in groups of three or five to smoke, those... everyone you see as you walk along the road.

You don't know if they are from the Lance family, or if they have some mission, but you know that they are always there.

Watching you without your noticing.

There are many legends about the Lance family and Bolton. Everyone knows that Bolton has become one of Lance's eyes to control the city.

You can't see him, you can't see them, but they can see you.

In addition, since Lance controls a large number of the most profitable businesses, his influence has actually surpassed that of Mayor Williams.

However, he seldom appears in front of the public. For the public, people like Mayor Williams, who they can see every day, are more influential.

The theme of this reception is about the new medium, television.

The development of television cannot be considered fast. In fact, the display technology has been around for many years, but people have only now applied it to television.

In addition, the minimum price of a TV station was more than one thousand yuan, which almost all working-class people could not afford, so TV stations did not appear as quickly as imagined.

News corporations in many places did not think that television and TV stations would develop.

"I noticed that we have actually implemented a new tax law, and the tax rate is over 40 percent!"

"It will prevent more people from trying to buy a TV, including the middle class."

This was a business gathering. Lance, as the person with the most cash and the most special status in Jingang City, was also invited.

The one who invited him was George...the Golden Harbor News Group behind him.

In this conflict between the Bay Area and Mayors Lance and Williams, Jingang News Group chose to stand on the side of Mayor Lance and Williams, so the equity structure was also adjusted.

You can't allow the defeated to have the same power as you after the war, so those people were kicked out, and the equity of King Kong News Group completed an evolution, allowing the group company to receive a new round of capital injection.

With some money in hand, Jingang News Group began to consider its next investment.

Capital will never allow money to be trapped in a pool and stagnant. Only when funds flow can they bring more wealth to capital.

After this period of investigation, Jingang News Group became interested in setting up a TV station.

The TV station in Xinjin City has been established for some time. It is said that the response is very good and they have found some ways to make profits.

So Jingang News Group also wants to develop in this direction, as they already own a radio station.

Currently, the main way for television to receive programs is still radio waves. If a TV station is established, News Corporation only needs to expand the functionality of the radio station and there is no need to start from scratch.

Experts believe that a more intuitive way of "reading" will help more people pay attention to the daily news, and watching operas and movies at home does not seem to be a bad thing.

Many people have predicted that television will become the most indispensable part of home entertainment!

It has great potential to grow, but not right now.

Starting from January 1 this year, the federal government implemented a new tax law, which requires people to file taxes even if their income is only one cent.

Coupled with the outbreak of war, the conditions for tax rates due to changes in national status in the bill were met, and basically everyone had to pay taxes on half of their monthly income, more than 40 percent.

According to the current calculation method, if a person can get 45 yuan a month, he will probably need to pay 19 to 20 yuan in taxes.

The remaining money was barely enough for them to live on.

Under such circumstances, it is basically impossible to get ordinary people to spend at least one thousand yuan to buy a TV.

Therefore, Jingang News Group plans to abandon the idea of ​​building Jingang TV Station on their own and instead adopt a multi-shareholder investment plan.

After all, from what they have learned so far, it is not enough to simply be able to transmit radio wave signals that can be recognized by televisions.

They still need to shoot and broadcast more content. Besides, anyone can use radio waves, and there are blind spots in charging, so they can't see the specific profit direction.

There is a high possibility of facing continuous losses in the short term, which may take two to three years, or three to five years.

But it is also possible that it will be ten years or even longer.

Capital never gets involved in infrastructure construction, as that does not conform to their pursuit of interests, so King Kong News Group plans to use this cocktail party to find some suitable investors and reduce risks.

As for the future?

If the TV station can really make money, they can just set up another one of their own. Even if the left hand and the right hand fight, they will be the winner in the end.

This time, representatives from both the old and new capital groups attended the reception, which could be considered an investment promotion conference. Especially the new capital groups, they were eager to join in more urban construction and development.

Just like a puppy peeing, they want to leave more of their scent and mark a territory.

This is also where News Corporation is cunning. There has always been confrontation and friction between new and old capital. Neither of them wants to see the other achieve greater development and success. With them here, investment is basically guaranteed.

Lance was also invited. As soon as he came in from outside, he heard some people not far away gathered around a gentleman and talked about his views on the future of television.

"The price of television is too high, gentlemen!"

"One thousand yuan per unit. Even if technological development allows the price to gradually drop, it's wartime now."

"It is said that the taxes here in Jingang City are already 37%, and those poor people have to pay them, so I think that most ordinary federal people don't need it and can't use it."

“I don’t deny that it will become dazzling in the future!”

“But, gentlemen, right now, we can’t see its rate of return and its cycle at all!”

"I don't know about you, but for me, the answer is 'no', a firm no!"

Lance stopped for a moment and listened to what he said. To be honest, at the cocktail party hosted by Jingang News Group, saying something very bad about Xingang Group would indeed cause him some trouble.

Someone saw Lance and immediately came over to greet him. As one of the most prominent people in the city, people were soon attracted by Lance's arrival and gathered around him.

After a brief greeting, someone asked, "Mr. Lance, do you think that televisions will become like ovens and hair dryers, something that millions of families will have?"

Lance nodded, then shook his head, "Definitely, but not now."

"Like the gentleman just said, televisions are too expensive nowadays, and only a few people can afford them."

"But in the future, it will surely be as dazzling as the sun!"

The questioner asked, "Do you think it's good?"

Lance nodded, "Yes, I am very optimistic about this business. If it goes well, I will invest some money."

People began to think about it, and some started talking about it with other people who didn't know about it. Some people became shaken and decided to consider whether to follow Lance and invest part of it.

But some people still stick to their point of view, that is, within the next ten years, at least within the next ten years, there will not be any significant development in television and TV stations.

They didn't really care about Lance's judgment, he was just a gang leader.

It is undeniable that he is smart, has a quick mind and is very courageous.

But now they are talking about the development of a scientific industry, not about how to make the opponent kneel down and beg for mercy faster. They don't say it, nor do they show it, which doesn't mean that they really care about this issue and value Lance's views. It's like a professor may patiently listen to a homeless man's ideas about science because of his upbringing, but he won't really adopt them or really think about them.

The executive president of Jingang News Group came over on his own initiative after seeing Lance, and others also gave up their seats and space to the president.

George was also next to him. In the past two years, George reported a lot of big news, was nominated for the "Golden Newspaper Award" twice, and won the award once.

It’s only the beginning of this year, but he is said to have already received a nomination for the Golden Newspaper Award. If he can continue to produce heavyweight news in the next period of time, then winning another Golden Newspaper Award will be a small problem for him.

As the top award for selecting journalists in the entire news industry, the Golden Newspaper Award is a very important qualification for practitioners.

It seems that many people win the award every year (non-unique award), but if these few or dozen people are placed in the context of the entire industry with hundreds of thousands of practitioners, they are still extremely precious.

In addition, George and Lance have a good relationship, so the president brought him along.

The two men shook hands. They had met once before, but they were not very familiar with each other.

"I just heard you, Mr. Lance, talk about your views on the future of television. You are very optimistic about the prospects of television in federal society."

Lance didn't deny that, "When the electric iron first came out people said it would only go into the homes of rich people, just like people said about the better multi-function stoves."

"Science and technology are always advancing, Mr. President."

"An electric iron that used to cost dozens of dollars now costs only four dollars and ninety-nine cents at the discount counter in the supermarket."

"Those multifunctional stoves that cost hundreds of yuan now only cost less than a hundred yuan."

"Science and technology are developing too fast, always surpassing most people's understanding of the future. Maybe in a few years, TVs will only cost a few hundred yuan, or even... two or three hundred yuan, or one or two hundred yuan?"

Hearing what Lance said, the president nodded without comment, "We have also made such speculations. We have the same views in this regard. We are both optimistic about its future development."

"If you are interested in our TV station, I can make the decision and give you a portion of the shares."

He said these flattering words, but in fact he agreed with Lance's opinion, but not all of it.

He doesn't think the price of televisions will drop any time soon, and he's not sure what the profit model of television stations is.

Those who have registered can receive the TV radio wave signals, and those who have not registered but have bought a TV can also receive the TV signals.

So everyone was confused and not sure whether this thing would work.

Lance thought it was feasible, which would be the best. He could let Lance invest, and if Lance was willing, this would solve a lot of problems.

The president nodded and said, "We can talk about this in private. I am very interested in this topic. If the TV station can be successfully established, then Mr. Lance, you will need to provide us with more advice and help."

Lance did not refuse, he also had ideas about setting up a TV station.

Regardless of whether you treat it as a project that will definitely make money in the future, or a lot of money.

Whether you use it as a channel to speak for yourself or as a kind of political capital, it is very necessary to increase investment in this area.

After a few simple greetings, the president was busy receiving other people, but George stayed.

"If you think that I invited you, you must invest..." He felt a little embarrassed and thought that Lance said this because of his invitation.

Lance was indeed nice to him, and he really regarded Lance as a friend. In fact, everyone was not optimistic about the TV station's development in the short term, otherwise News Corporation would not need to recruit other investors.

They can do the money-making things themselves, so why leave it to others?

It is because they feel the prospects are not optimistic that they want to attract some investors to fight risks with them.

Lance waved his hand, "I'm not catering to anyone's ideas. This is what I really think!"

He paused, "How have you been lately?"

George shrugged. "I've been reporting on the news about the Holy Bell Party. The more I dig, the more frightening it becomes. You know?"

"They recently discovered a pit..." He suddenly got stuck and shook his head after a long while before continuing, "I don't know how to describe it. Anyway, they threw people who died in the process of human trafficking into the pit. More than 60 bodies have been cleared out of it, and the number is still increasing."

"Some people say there are at least two hundred bodies buried there, maybe even more, and there will be even more...corpse pits!"

He spelled out a word himself, but described it accurately.

"That's terrible news. Do you think you can win the award this year?" Lance asked.

George shook his head. "This news is local news, and... you know sometimes the organizing committee will not be satisfied with this kind of news."

"They want news that can make people feel redemptive, or despair, that can trigger emotions in people. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it's definitely not this."

He paused and said, "Actually, I want to go to the front line and be a war correspondent."

Lance was slightly stunned. "Your idea is good, but I think it's too risky."

"If you haven't won the Golden Newspaper Award, I will support you. This is a good opportunity for you to realize your dream."

"But now that you've been nominated several times and have won the Golden Newspaper Award once, there's absolutely no need to work so hard."

George sighed, "Maybe this is what journalists pursue. I always want to put the most shocking things in front of them."

"I heard you have a good relationship with the military?"

Lance stared at him for a while, and couldn't help but persuade him again, "This is not a good choice!"

But George seemed to have made up his mind. "The news in China is too closed. It's always the Ministry of Defense that releases press releases. Some media outlets that know the truth don't say anything at all. I suspect there are some situations that we don't know about."

"Their news coverage is too uniform, which is a clear sign of a problem."

“The people have the right to know the truth!”

Lance tried one last time, "Even if I might die over there?"

George picked up the glass and took a sip, "This is what I want most right now."

Lance frowned. "Okay, I'll help you get a war correspondent pass, but you have to be prepared. Sometimes the bullets don't necessarily come from the front."

In fact, he didn't make some of his words so clearly. Some of the navy stationed here some time ago have already left the port. They increased pressure through maritime military operations in the Eastern Ocean to relieve pressure on the ground.

Although they were not facing the enemy's main force and were in a clear defensive position, the result was far more serious than that of the enemy in terms of casualties, and the entire Ministry of National Defense and the military remained silent.

People in the country shouted "Long live the Federation" and "Long live victory", and the world was in my hands.

There are corpses everywhere and rivers of blood in foreign countries. How could they allow such reports to appear in the country?

Isn't this a major blow to the authority of the President, the Department of Defense, the military and even Congress?
This is a serious political event!
The reason why those national media did not report it is because they also did not want anything to happen.

Anyone who dares to report the truth is an enemy of the Federation!
It can even be said that the people of the Federation will not accept this fact!
George could hear what Lance meant. He hesitated a little, but still gritted his teeth and said, "I want to go over and take a look."

Lance didn't try to persuade him again. It was like someone wanting to jump off a cliff. You just had to persuade him two or three times and fulfill your duty as a friend.

There is no need to use your body to stop the other person from jumping, or to jump with him.

But Lance felt it was a pity. After all, George had won the Golden Newspaper Award and was considered a top talent in the journalism industry.

"Take care of your work, and call me when you've arranged it. I'll give you a pass."

As they were chatting, Alvin walked in from outside. Seeing this, George clinked glasses with Lance and left quickly.

"We caught a man, a killer from the Holy Bell Party..."

(End of this chapter)