The rejuvenation of a great nation: from educated youth to national treasure scientist

Chapter 142 The Cost of Superstitious Faith in Foreign Countries

Wang Haoran agreed to He Chang's interview request.

He Chang started asking questions.

His first question was: "Comrade Haoran, what do you think is the level of our computer typesetting technology in the world?"

Wang Haoran smiled calmly and said, "Newspapers in developed countries in the Lizard Country probably began to try to use computers for typesetting and printing in the mid-70s. Currently, they have widely adopted this computer typesetting and printing technology."

"Our current typesetting software is far more powerful than that of the Lizard. I can say that we have already caught up with the computer typesetting and printing technology of the West!"

"The Chinese publishing processing system we independently developed can be described as unrivaled in the world!"

He Chang nodded and asked again: "What advantages do you think computer typesetting and printing have over traditional typesetting and printing technology?"

Wang Haoran smiled and said, "There are still many advantages."

"The first advantage is that computer typesetting supports more complex and beautiful newspaper layout design, which can greatly improve efficiency and quality!"

"Secondly, computer typesetting and printing can greatly save printing costs, shorten printing cycles, and improve the flexibility and diversity of newspaper printing and typesetting!"

"In the past, our daily newspapers could only report news up to 24 or p.m. the day before! Now that our computer typesetting and printing technology has matured and is in use, the time for typesetting and printing can be shortened to just one hour. Then, we can report domestic and international news within hours of the previous day! This can improve the timeliness of news for news media. And the timeliness of news is actually the life of the media!"

He Chang smiled and nodded, saying, "You seem to understand this industry better than us journalists."

"So, do you think that this computer typesetting and printing technology can be popularized in our country in the next few years?"

Wang Haoran smiled and said, “It will be fully popularized in one or two years at most.”

"It depends on the production speed of our domestic new computers and computer output laser typesetting large-scale printing presses!"

"Our Pangu Electronic Computer Technology Company is now almost complete, and it is expected that various related products will gradually enter the stage of large-scale mass production."

"I also firmly believe that computer typesetting and printing technology will definitely put the national publishing industry on the fast track of rapid development!"

That night, Wang Haoran stayed at the People's Daily until about 12: in the morning.

At this time, all layouts have been determined.

The front-page headline news was that the chief designer went to the south for inspection.

The second headline on the front page was about Wang Haoran being interviewed about computer typesetting technology.

This night was a significant historical moment for the People’s Daily!
Editor-in-chief Chen Silang and other newspaper leaders were all waiting at the printing factory. They wanted to witness the birth of the first newspaper that was truly typeset and printed by computer!

The large printing press began to rumble at 1 a.m.

The printing speed is quite fast, more than 3 newspapers can be printed in one hour. If three machines are running together, the printing speed can reach 3 per hour.

People's Daily is a major newspaper with nationwide coverage, with a daily circulation of three million copies.

Of course, it has set up 10 printing points across the country to cover all provinces and regions.

All of its printing points have adopted new equipment.

After the daily newspaper schedule is released, someone will copy the content and take it directly to the printing point for printing.

The printing point here in Beijing prints about 50 copies a day.

50 newspapers, each with 12 pages, can be printed on both sides without manual physical flipping. Large printing machines can automatically complete the printing in one go.

That means 5 newspapers can be printed in 50 hours.

The printing was finished around 5 a.m.

Then all the staff began to sort the newspapers, transporting stacks of newspapers of different editions to different distribution stations, and then began to deliver the newspapers to various units and retail outlets.

After the first newspaper was printed, Chen Silang rushed to check the results.

He found that the newspapers looked much more beautiful and elegant with the new large-scale printing equipment.

Moreover, the newspaper is printed in color, and the colors are very natural and not distorted at all.

In short, the first newspaper printing using the new typesetting and printing model can be said to be a great success.

On that day, staff members of various units in the Beijing area and many citizens quickly noticed the big changes in the People’s Daily!

“The layout of People’s Daily is really beautiful!”

"Oh! It's even printed in color!"

"I just found out from the news that this is another achievement of Wang Haoran. Printing is one of our four great inventions. Wang Haoran can be called the modern Bi Sheng!"

……

The People's Daily on that day was very popular and everyone wanted to be the first to see it.

Of course, other media are also watching the big changes in People's Daily's printing and publishing.

For example, Longguo News Agency is an authoritative national news agency in Longguo, and it also has several newspapers under its umbrella.

When Zhang Haotian, the president of Longguo News Agency, came to the office that morning, his secretary Xiao Feng brought him a copy of People's Daily.

"President, I have to say that their newspaper is much more beautiful. The layout and picture processing are much better than before."

Zhang Haotian took the newspaper and read it, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Because he had previously refused a pilot project in computer typesetting and printing.

At that time, he was worried that the domestic computer typesetting and printing technology was not up to standard. He was worried that he would buy the equipment and not be able to use it properly, which would make him very angry.

So, he didn't agree.

He felt that it would be better to let others be the guinea pigs.

If you find that this technology is good in the future, it won’t be too late to follow up, right?

But now, he discovered that this computer typesetting and printing technology seemed to be really advanced!

Take a look at the interview with Wang Haoran on the second news page of the front page; he clearly states all his advantages.

The People's Daily also reported yesterday's news until very late, and even the news that happened at 23:40 in the morning made the headlines.

What does this mean? It means that their printing technology is really fast, many times faster than the old typesetting printing.

After Zhang Haotian finished reading the entire newspaper, he did not hesitate any longer. Instead, he picked up the phone on the table and called the news and publishing authorities. He now strongly demanded that the several newspapers under the Longguo News Agency must immediately adopt the latest computer typesetting, output and printing technology.

……

In fact, the person who felt the most uncomfortable after seeing the newly published People's Daily was Cui Yongxing, the editor-in-chief of Mingguang Daily.

Mingguang Daily is also one of the most important authoritative media in Longguo.

Two years ago, Cui Yongxing saw that newspapers printed by developed countries abroad using new computer typesetting and printing technology were beautiful and efficient.

Cui Yongxing is also a courageous man.

He immediately decided to raise US$700 million to import a laser typesetting printing system from Komori, a well-known printing press supplier in the world, intending to drastically improve the printing quality and efficiency of Ming Guang Daily, thereby increasing the circulation of Ming Guang Daily.

This set of imported equipment arrived at the end of last year and was installed and debugged at the Mingguang Daily's printing plant.

It caused a sensation at the time.

Cui Yongxing even made a bold statement, saying that he would create the first full-color, high-quality newspaper in the country to better serve the people of the country.

However, after the equipment was officially debugged and put into use, a fatal flaw was discovered.

That is: it does not have a complete Chinese character vocabulary, and its typesetting is not quite the same as the Chinese typesetting standard.

The Mingguang Daily Printing Factory debugged the equipment for a long time but was unable to use it well.

There was no other way, Cui Yongxing could only ask the experts from the foot basin to come and help with debugging.

The fee for a foot basin expert to help with the adjustment is 200 million yen, or about 1 dollars.

Moreover, they want to stay in luxurious hotels and have good food, drinks and hospitality.

But the technicians of the foot basin came several times, but ultimately failed to solve the problem.

They told Cui Yongxing that in order to make this equipment more usable, they needed to invent a Chinese-based system.

To develop such a Chinese system, it would cost at least $5 million!

Cui Yongxing was furious.

He had to work very hard to raise $700 million, which enabled him to import a set of printing equipment from Komori.

Now, you have to pay another 500 million dollars?

Where can he find the money?
Moreover, many people in the newspaper office are dissatisfied with Cui Yongxing because the printing equipment imported from Komori Corporation at a cost of 700 million US dollars has not played a good role.

Cui Yongxing is now a little worried whether he will be punished because of this incident.

It has been more than a year since he decided to import printing equipment from Komori.

This equipment has now become a headache for Cui Yongxing.

Cui Yongxing asked several times that people from Komori Company must help him solve this problem as soon as possible.

He even said to the people of Komori Company: If you can make the equipment we bought work properly and the effect is good, I will help you sell your equipment to newspapers all over Longguo! You may even get hundreds of millions of dollars in business!
People at Komori thought it made sense.

They sent a man named Ichiro Komori to help solve the problem.

Cui Yongxing has already made an appointment to meet with Ichiro Komori in his own office.

Cui Yongxing arrived at the office at 7:30 in the morning.

He had to figure out how to convince Ichiro Komori to solve the problem for Mingguang Daily for free after meeting him.

Just then, someone in the office brought him a copy of the People's Daily.

Cui Yongxing had heard long ago that the People's Daily was going to adopt the computer typesetting laser phototypesetting printing system developed by Longguo itself.

He read the People's Daily newspaper that day and was immediately shocked.

Today's People's Daily is so beautiful! The front page is printed in color, and the printing quality is several levels higher than before.

The layout is beautiful, the printing is clear, and the pictures are colorful.

Is this the effect of using the domestic computer typesetting and printing system?
If so, then this domestic printing system is amazing.

The quality of this is no worse than the technology of the foot basin!

There are even places to win!
Cui Yongxing had visited Jiaoben before, and he even has several Jiaoben newspapers on hand.

He took out those newspapers from the Foot Basin and compared them with today's People's Daily. The result of the comparison was: the printing quality and typesetting effect of the People's Daily were much better than those of the Foot Basin newspaper!
This made Cui Yongxing feel a little complicated.

Because this made him feel a little embarrassed. Domestic computer typesetting and printing equipment was so easy to use, but the foot basin equipment he imported at a huge cost of foreign exchange still couldn't be used normally...

Doesn't this further highlight his incompetence?
Cui Yongxing had mixed feelings. He asked someone to find Wang Haoran's office phone number and called him.

Wang Haoran happened to be in the office at this time and he answered the phone.

Cui Yongxing quickly revealed his identity.

After a few pleasantries, Cui Yongxing asked how much a set of domestic computer typesetting and printing equipment cost.

Wang Haoran told the truth: Currently, a set of domestic computer typesetting and printing equipment costs about 50 yuan.

Cui Yongxing was shocked when he heard this...

He never imagined that the price of domestic equipment was 20 to 30 times lower than that of imported equipment.

Cui Yongxing briefly described his current predicament: he spent huge amounts of money to import the equipment for the foot basin, but after it was introduced and installed, it could not be used normally, which put him under great pressure.

Cui Yongxing asked Wang Haoran: Can you help me solve this problem?

As soon as Wang Haoran heard it, he knew that the reason why Mingguang Daily could not be used normally was because there was no Chinese translation system!
As long as you use the Chinese system, this problem should be easily solved.

Listening to Cui Yongxing's tone of voice, he seemed so sad.

Wang Haoran thought, maybe Cui Yongxing is under a lot of pressure now?

However, this problem is easy to solve.

Wang Haoran told Cui Yongxing that he hoped to go and see the equipment of the foot basin company in a few days. After all, only by carefully understanding it could he solve the problem in a targeted manner.

Cui Yongxing was overjoyed when he heard this.

He didn't expect Wang Haoran to be so easy to talk to.

"Comrade Haoran, can I pick you up this afternoon?"

"I hope to solve this problem as soon as possible, is that ok with you?"

Wang Haoran naturally agreed.

After making this call, Cui Yongxing finally felt much better.

As long as Wang Haoran helped him solve the problem that the printing equipment of the imported foot basin could not be used normally.

Then, this difficult hurdle of his has been overcome.

As soon as Cui Yongxing finished the call, an office subordinate came over to report that Ichiro Komori, an expert from Komori Company, had arrived.

Cui Yongxing was in a very good mood at this time.

He said, "Then let Mr. Komori come over!"

At this time, Ichiro Komori was sitting in the visitor waiting room of the Meiko Daily.

He looked a little serious.

He is the youngest son of Komori Masahide, the owner of Komori Co., Ltd.

The reason he came to Longguo this time was to open up more markets for Komori Company.

In the past, Komori Company hardly paid any attention to the large market of Longguo.

But as the relationship between Longguo and Jiaoben entered a stable period, companies in Jiaoben began to turn their attention to Longguo.

This is a big market!

With a population of over one billion, although it is a bit poor, the market size is there.

As long as it can be eaten, it will be of great benefit to the development of Komori Company.

This is also the main reason why Ichiro Komori came to talk to Cui Yongxing in person.

He hopes to help Mingguang Daily solve its problems, and then use this opportunity to completely open up the Longguo market.

Ichiro Komori is very arrogant.

He felt that as long as Komori Company took it a little more seriously, the entire Dragon Country market would be theirs.

After Ichiro Komori arrived in Longguo, he received news that Longguo had developed its own computer typesetting and printing system.

At that time, Ichiro Komori was a little disdainful, thinking that this must be fake news.

Because, how could Longguo handle such complicated computer typesetting?

Do they have core technology? Do they have talent?
Do they have that foundation?
You have nothing and want to master advanced printing technology?
That's just a pipe dream!
However, the person who brought him the message sounded very convincing.

He was also told that Longguo's domestically produced computer typesetting and printing system was about to be promoted and used in the People's Daily.

Although Ichiro Komori still felt a little contemptuous in his heart, he still decided to buy a copy of People's Daily the next day.

The next morning, he bought a newly published copy of People's Daily at a state-owned newsstand.

When Ichiro Komori saw the layout and color pictures on the front page, his heart skipped a beat.

Because the quality of typesetting, color graphics and printing is quite good!
Ichiro Komori finished reading the entire newspaper and he gasped.

Because the printing quality of the entire newspaper is quite stable, no worse than Komori's printing system!
This shows that the domestically-produced computer typesetting and printing system developed by Longguo is very useful!
If their domestically produced computer typesetting and printing equipment is easy to use, will the media organizations in Longguo still choose Komori Corporation's products?
That's unrealistic, right?

Ichiro Komori had an appointment to meet Cui Yongxing this morning.

Before seeing the People's Daily, Ichiro Komori was thinking about how to give Cui Yongxing a warning after meeting him and make him follow his own ideas.

But after reading the People's Daily, Ichiro Komori's mood has completely changed.

He was feeling a little nervous and anxious at the moment.

He hoped to resolve the problems of Mingguang Daily as soon as possible and seize the time to make Komori's printing equipment popular and welcomed in Longguo.

"Mr. Komori, our president is waiting for you, please follow me." The staff of Mingguang Daily Office brought Ichiro Komori to Cui Yongxing's office.

After introducing himself, Ichiro Komori gave Cui Yongxing a deep 90-degree bow.

Cui Yongxing nodded slightly and asked Ichiro Komori to sit down on the sofa.

Cui Yongxing did not beat around the bush. He asked, "Mr. Komori, I want to know how you plan to solve the problem that the equipment you sold to us cannot be used normally?"

He no longer had any patience.

In the past year, the people of Jiaoben have basically failed to solve the problem.

I guess even if Ichiro Komori came, he wouldn't be able to solve any problems.

Ichiro Komori didn't expect the other party to be so direct.

However, he still said, "Mr. Cui, I came here to help you solve this problem."

"You know, it is very difficult to come up with an effective and stable Chinese translation system. It requires hard work from scientific researchers!"

“It is likely that the R&D cost will be as high as tens of millions of dollars.”

"We originally wanted you to pay half of this money."

"Now, we will no longer burden you with anything!"

"We will bear all the R&D costs!"

Cui Yongxing felt a little annoyed: You still want us to owe you a favor?

The key point is: Wasn’t it your mistake before?

You clearly know that your printing equipment does not have a Chinese operating system and may be difficult to use normally, so why don't you say hello?

Over the past year, we have spent more than $100,000 just to debug and maintain the equipment you sold us!
Isn't this deceiving?
Cui Yongxing asked: "How long will it take you to develop a Chinese version of the system?"

Ichiro Komori could hear the other party's dissatisfaction. He smiled and said, "Mr. Cui, if you want to make a stable and reliable system, it will probably take at least one or two months."

"We hope Mr. Cui can use your influence to help us promote Komori's printing equipment in your country first."

"We can even give you some commission!"

"Well! For every unit sold, I'll give you a commission of one thousand yuan."

Ichiro Komori knew that Cui Yongxing had a great influence in the media industry in Longguo.

If Cui Yongxing is willing to help with sales, then there should be no problem selling dozens of sets of equipment in the short term.

Cui Yongxing frowned.

Boy, this problem isn't solved yet.

You have to work as a salesperson for them first.

One thousand yuan per machine, the commission is indeed very high.

But Cui Yongxing didn't dare to take the money, as he would definitely end up in trouble if he took it.

"Mr. Komori, I suggest you solve our problem as soon as possible!"

"If you can solve the problem within a few days and allow our newspaper to be printed using your equipment with excellent printing quality, that would be the best advertisement!"

"I must advise you: To solve a problem, you must grasp the main contradiction and don't try to find crooked ways!"

"The promise you just made is a bit like a crime!"

Komori Ichiro lowered his voice and said with a smile: "Your commission can be given to you in a legal way! There will be absolutely no danger!"

"I know that your monthly income is only a few hundred yuan. If you cooperate with us, you will soon be on the road to wealth!"

Cui Yongxing shook his head and said, "Mr. Komori, I suggest you better stop saying such things!"

"Now, you just need to tell me: how long can you help us solve the problem of equipment being unusable?"

Ichiro Komori was stunned.

He didn't expect that his attempts to win over and corrupt others would not work.

Ichiro Komori could only say, "Mr. Cui, I need to consult with our headquarters before I can give you an answer."

Cui Yongxing said: "I want to know what price you plan to sell the printing equipment you sold to us before for in the future?"

Ichiro Komori said stubbornly: "Because we have taken measures to save costs and improve efficiency, we can now price the equipment at $100 million!"

Cui Yongxing was furious when he heard this. Damn it! It's only been a year and you've reduced your level to one-seventh of the original level! You're making me suspect of taking bribes like mud falling into your pants, it's shit anyway!

(End of this chapter)