I promised to do a review of what happened recently and what I thought about the so-called Winter Festival. It's all here.
— — Remembering the "movement" happening around us this time.
The year 2020 is really a magical year.
Under the background of the trade war, from the spread of COVID-19 in China to overseas, and now the chaos in America, the situation in China and the world seems to be changing drastically by the week.
Faced with such a situation, I once told my family that it's fortunate that we chose to be in the online literature industry. We buried our heads in our books at home and were basically quarantined. The epidemic came and the situation outside changed. Only we seemed to have the upper hand. Who knows who will be spared. April 27th, Yuewen Group changed its management, and a sudden contract dispute also came.
During the whole May, this dispute actually affected every writer in Yuewen Group. Many readers were filled with righteous indignation and joined in. In the whole process, there were things that I agreed with and things that I didn't agree with. I promised to do a review after there are in-progress results. Today is June 3rd, Qidian's new contract came out, and I can start writing the review.
Of course, I have to make it clear that this entire article is still an interpretation from my personal point of view. I'm just sincerely talking about what I've come across and my thoughts and thoughts. I'll give my readers a reference. You can make your own conclusions.
*****
April 27th, Qidian changed its management, and Cheng Wu took over. Public opinion about Qidian's possible free service erupted. This matter concerns the rights of all writers, and all kinds of worries spread rapidly in the writer's group. What followed was the news that Qidian changed its contract to pave the way for free service. Everyone was panicking.
At that time, we were most concerned about whether Qidian would forcefully implement free service. That's why I kept asking in the group whether Cheng Wu's first action was to change the contract. I said in the Weibo post on May 2nd that if it was his first action, we basically don't need to talk anymore. We can only vote with our feet.
However, after asking around for a few days, everyone said that although Cheng Wu used to be in Yuewen Group, he didn't actually manage anything. This time, the personnel change was very sudden. Later, it was said that when Cheng Wu accepted Yuewen, he was still quarantined in Beijing. The reason why the meeting was held in Beijing on May 6th was that he had not stepped into Yuewen Shanghai since he became the boss. In this case, there might be a chance that he would not enforce the contract violently.
During this process, the public's opinion quickly swelled, and the focus shifted from the free content to the contract. The contract was terrible, and everyone who saw it would be angry. Of course, we didn't touch the contract at the beginning, and the author was most concerned about the free content. After understanding that it wasn't possible to forcefully push for free content, I heaved a sigh of relief.
However, the details of the contract were entangled with the resentment over the free service. As the dispute grew, we started to understand some of the details of the contract. We had a group with about thirty Platinum players. On May 2nd, we chatted, "Are there really such harsh conditions?" I said, "If there are such conditions, we have to express our opposition." The others also agreed. Yao Ye came out and said, "Write an article, and I will use Hunan Internet Association to publish it." I said that I couldn't write an official document, so I could only write my own attitude. At that time, Cuttlefish came out and reminded me, "Don't be in a hurry to write it. Let's find the real contract and read it first."
Then, we found the contract.
(Many people deliberately stirred up conflict, saying that the contract signed by the Platinum God was different from the ordinary people. But in fact, the two Platinum players in the group had already signed the new contract and were regretting it like grandchildren.)
After we finished reading the contract, we picked out the most problematic points. Then, I wrote the Weibo post on May 2nd.
On the one hand, I wanted to oppose the contract. On the other hand, the internal situation of Yuewen was very tense at that time. After understanding that the contract wasn't Cheng Wu's idea, I hoped to give them a way out. I hoped that Yuewen could use this as an excuse to let Cheng Wu, the new CEO, be the "Justice Bao" and change the contract. That way, everyone would be happy. Moreover, I felt that this way would allow the Platinum Gods and Platinum players who were still reading the contract to express their position. "We oppose the contract and want to change it."
Of course, Cuttlefish was the most frank one. At that time, he directly pointed out the problems in the contract and cursed. Apart from him, it would be hard to find anyone else in Qidian Platinum who could curse like that when they were under contract.
At that time, we had such considerations. Later, an editor from Qidian came over and said that they had been anxious for a few days and didn't know how to respond to the public opinion. Following that, Toad contacted Cheng Wu and transferred our Weibo posts to him. He had actually given Cheng Wu a lot of suggestions in secret. Many people didn't know about this. Later on, he teased himself as the "Sacred Toad of the South Sea" because of this.
On the night of May 2nd, Yuewen made a decision and went down the slope. On one hand, they promised to have a sincere discussion and to amend the contract. On the other hand, they clarified that the contract wasn't their fault. We were more or less relieved. However, the public opinion regarding the '55 Severance Day' rapidly increased, and the resistance to the sincere discussion became more and more intense.
On May 3rd, Hu Shuo came to me and invited me to attend the conference in Beijing. I rejected him immediately because my ability to express myself on the spot was actually very weak. I could logically write an article of tens of thousands of words, but if I had to express myself on the spot, I would usually be sweating profusely because my brain was working too much. On May 4th, after my rejection, the public opinion of the conference was already out of control. People were saying that I was a scab and that I was going to be nailed to the pillar of shame. I went to look for Hu Shuo again and told him that I was going to Shanghai like Cuttlefish. With him expressing himself, I would just make up the numbers. Of course, the conference in Shanghai had yet to be held. There were also some things that happened in between, but we'll talk about them later in the article.
Our disagreement with many people is on the 55th Day. Many people don't understand why we are boycotting the so-called 55th Day. We'll first talk about some minor details. Many people thought that this was a righteous and spontaneous "mass movement." But in fact, the speed at which the public opinion swelled this time was not normal. A senior editor in the circle said that the speed at which the public opinion swelled this time was the fastest I've seen since Baidu's Wei Zexi incident. The person behind this was very skilled. On May 2nd, we only promised to have a sincere discussion with the '56 Severance Day'. Following that, the public opinion and the details of the '55 Severance Day' were quickly perfected. Here, I'm more inclined to believe that our business partners had already entered the scene. Even if they weren't present at the start, they should have already arrived by May.
Of course, we'll put aside the question of whether or not there were business partners. As I've said, these are minor details. Let's put that aside and talk about the nature of the '55 Severance Day'.
As we all know, the country has attached great importance to online literature in recent years. Although the theoretical development is relatively slow, causing the country to not know how to use its power properly, in the literary circle, the importance of online literature is increasing every year. This situation once made traditional literature very confused. They thought that they were literature. Why were the higher-ups so generous in funding online literature, but not much support for traditional literature?
To put it bluntly, the country's support was because of the influence of online literature. Without influence, literature that could not reach readers, why invest money? Let's put aside literature and look at it as media and communication. The whole logic is clear at a glance.
Online literature can basically be regarded as a kind of media because we are reaching a large readership at any time. Of course, we do not casually export our views. We are in the service industry, but we also have the potential of a media. If one day, we really want to express a stance, it will quickly sink into our readership.
Especially the crude and simple stance of 'boycotting literature'.
On the '55 Severance Day', many platinum, godly, and even authors who usually did not update, came out to update. Some people scolded scapegoats and felt that they were useless. Then, think about it. What would happen if everyone really stopped reading on this day?
If on this day, all the authors directly expressed their stance of 'boycotting literature', what do you think will happen on the 6th of May? Do you really think that this is a demonstration?
No, from the 6th of May onwards, 'boycotting literature' will become an unstoppable trend in the readers' circle. "To support the authors, I will not read at Qidian anymore." "Author, hurry up and jump ship. I'll follow you wherever you jump."
Where is the real vitality of Qidian? It's because of the huge legions of paid readers. The '55 Severance Day' is an attempt to make the authors' anger towards Qidian sink directly into the readers' group. Some people say that it is very meaningful and has a great effect. That's right, its power and effect is far greater than what everyone can imagine. Even at this scale, the number of readers and activity of Qidian has probably decreased by 20%. If all the top authors take the lead to cause trouble, it will not be a sit-in, it will be a nuclear bomb.
This is what I have always said. There is a factory that is very tyrannical. The workers started to cause trouble, and the factory decided to negotiate with the workers. A group of righteous people rushed in and said: "The capitalists cannot be trusted." "You must be more determined and destroy more things." They smashed the factory. Among these people smashing the factory, there will be the shadow of the members of the security department next door.
They promised to negotiate on the 2nd of May. The time of the negotiation is on the 6th of May. The '55 Severance Day' is set for the '55 Severance Day'. Because they directly believed that 'the capitalists will not compromise', they rushed in and wanted to kill all the authors. Who are these people? There are very few people who rely on Qidian to make a living. Those who are filled with righteous indignation to this extent are either other authors, or those who can't make a living in Qidian anyway, or those warm-hearted people who stand outside of Qidian.
On the 4th of May, I told a few hundred authors in several chat groups that I will not stop updating on the 55th. I will definitely update on the 55th. If you point at the next chapter and stop updating on Qidian, you will stop updating. If this wave of top authors stops updating, it will not be a 'Severance Day', it will be a 'Severance Day'.
On the 55th, the moderators in the chat group also wanted to respond, so I told them about this in the more moderators' chat group. I would definitely update, but I wouldn't use this reasoning to publicly boycott the Breaking Update Festival, because I didn't trust Cheng Wu either. Although the Breaking Update Festival on the 55th day was beneficial to all sorts of harm, since all sorts of harm couldn't be stopped, I wouldn't try to get rid of this benefit in the middle.
On that day, even some of my readers could not understand my updates. Some of them might not even read my books anymore. If I had told them about this, many of them would have understood. But later on, I thought that people will encounter tigers in this world. Since there is such a storm, some things will definitely be lost. For the time being, it is better to treat it as a battle loss.
After the 55th, I only said some words indirectly. Although I am against the 55th, I have never directly discussed and dismantled the problems in it. The reason is that I must maintain the pressure on Cheng Wu. If some people want to cause trouble, even if they want to cause trouble, then let them cause trouble. If they continue to cause trouble, then there is always the possibility of friends inciting them. If this possibility is maintained, Cheng Wu will not let down his guard.
Speaking of which, if the deadline for the 55th was 515, it would be a good thing. At that time, I will directly support it with both hands.
But if it is set on the 55th, then it is a story of a bunch of sons of b * tches inciting a group of warm-hearted people. Under the background that the factory has already agreed to negotiate, it destroyed 20% of the factory. Of course, this group of people who destroyed the factory will also say that the reason why Cheng Wu can compromise today is all because of them. In the middle of all this, it is really hard to say who is the reason.
The 55th was the biggest doubt in many people's hearts. They did not understand why the author updated on that day. For the bystanders, the impassioned and desperate struggle will make their blood boil. But for the authors of Qidian? What is the background?
There are thousands of authors who rely on Qidian to make a living. Not all of them are big authors with a monthly income of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Some of them work full time, and some rely on subscriptions to support their families. Although it seems that they are not promising, the salary of Yuewen is indeed an indispensable monthly living expense for them. Yuewen is very domineering today, and Yuewen was also domineering in the past. But overall, Yuewen has the best score among all the websites.
Although this is the best score, it might only be 60 points.
When their emotions burst out, the authors will hope to fight for 65 points on the basis of this 60 points. Maybe they will secretly think that if they can't fight for it, it is better to continue with 60 points. In any case, it is better than other websites, right? On the other hand, the capitalists want to turn the starting point of 60 points into 55 points. They will gain more benefits. Both sides are in this game. At this time, a group of enthusiastic people came. At first, they also wanted to fight for 65 points for the authors. But after that, their impassioned and desperate desire overwhelmed their rationality. They wantonly quoted the revolutionary manifesto of the past. Before the game even started, they firmly believed that "the capitalists will not compromise." They are decentralized, and they do not set any stop-loss points. In the middle of this, there may also be the instigation of business friends. They quickly reduced their psychological expectations of the struggle to zero points. If Yuewen does not retreat, then everyone will die together!
If we look at all of this coldly, and analyze it as a simple mass movement, before 55 points, all the interests of the rebels are the same. But after 55 points, the radicals, who are mostly not involved in any interests, began to expand the situation without any psychological burden. This led to the split between the two groups of protesters.
The radicals took the slogans of the past revolutionary period and shouted them loudly today. They used the judgment of life and death during the revolutionary period as today's judgment. They firmly believe that the capitalists will not compromise. They believe that they must fight for the right to open the window with the momentum of lifting the roof. They define the exploiter as the "master" and the author as the "slave" … But looking back, has it really reached this point today? If it really has reached this point, what we need is a revolution.
The essence of the primary stage of socialism is that we and capital will play a long-term game and coexist for a long time.
These days, when we ask people who blindly memorize Lu Xun's quotations, "What do you do for work? Do you think you are being exploited? "None of them gave a direct answer. Why? Our country is using the benefits of capital, but we also bear a lot of the harm of capital. We hope to limit some of its harm in the long game. This situation is completely different from the methodology adopted during the revolutionary period.
What do you do for work?
Have you been exploited?
In fact, everyone more or less bears it.
But today, our country is a country that has been around for 70 years. The development of capital has only been around for 30 years. We have not yet reached the point where we cannot compromise with either side. We bear a certain amount of exploitation, but we are also living our own lives. Our lives are even more prosperous. Well, today your company has a problem, and you will also participate in the resistance. At this time, I bring the revolutionary quotations to help you. I tell you that your company will never compromise, and I light a fire for you. What do you think? You don't dare to light a fire. I say that you are a slave. What do you think?
Even during the revolutionary period, people reduced their psychological expectations to zero on the basis of several unsuccessful negotiations with capital or the government.
People who resist for five or ten days and directly reduce their psychological expectations to zero, and they do not have any interests involved, and they do not care about the matter. They are the so-called "hooligans and proletarians" in history.
*****
On May 6th, after the conference in Beijing, there were actually some problems during the conference. Zhou and Toad scolded me.
In the following May, Qidian's technology and operations also encountered two problems. Because of the tense situation, everyone was very tense. So during the entire process, many authors went to the editor and scolded them. I even said in front of the editor that they did not stop updating after 55 and that they could stop updating in June. I even deliberately stirred up the authors' emotions. Hu Shuo talked to me. I said that if Qidian did not do well this time, the authors would flip out and collapse. In this kind of situation, the more tense the better, in case Cheng Wu did not take it seriously.
In the midst of this, the ones who contributed the most were the original editors of Yuewen. Hu Shuo, 314, An Yi, Xue Ye, Ding Dong … They were the ones who were caught in the middle. On one hand, they had to calm the situation when the authors were scolding them, and on the other hand, they had to pass on the appeal to Cheng Wu.
Toad was also caught in the middle. Of course, he did not care about all this. In early May, he called and teased himself as the "Sacred Toad of the South Sea". If he was trying to be successful, all he needed to do was stir up the populism and he would be liked by many people. But in fact, he hated fools. So when he saw those people who had changed, he started scolding them.
Today, 63, the new contract was released. Some of the worst traps had been removed. Of course, there would still be people who were dissatisfied. For example, if I did not give you the copyright, what would I do if you did not recommend me? In the middle of this, we need to look forward to business partners. If there are good business partners who can give us a better contract, then Qidian will naturally have to keep up. Currently, in the entire online literature circle, Vertical and Horizontal's contract is not bad. But due to some operations in the early stages, their reader pool is not deep enough. This is another of their weaknesses. Look, I'm even willing to make a public announcement here. Having competition is good for all authors.
Even though Qidian's contract has been somewhat restrained today, in the future, they will of course slowly tighten it again. This kind of game will always exist. Not only in the online literature circle, but even in our lives and the careers of our readers. If there comes a day in the future when you want to rebel, how will you play?
Just as I've said time and time again, on one side is Yuewen, on the other side are business partners, on the other side are the authors, and on the other side are the enthusiastic people who have been stirred up. In this complicated game, how can we allow the authors to gain some benefits? This question will run through our lives from beginning to end.
But one thing is certain.
There is no extreme attitude that can be correct from beginning to end.
From April 27th to the 55th, the people who called for and opposed to Qidian were correct. There might have been the impetus of business partners behind the scenes. Without such a game, there is no way to talk about what happened later. But when it comes to the 55th, many people became enthusiastic people who have been stirred up by people with ulterior motives. Then, it gradually developed. They linked their initial standpoint with their face, and in the end, it became purely a fight for their face. They will be filled with righteous indignation because certain authors did not stand on their side. After being filled with righteous indignation, they will want to destroy everyone's interests. These days, the atmosphere on Dragon's Sky Forum is like this. In fact, this is the inevitable evolution of all so-called "decentralization" movements. In the end, only the most extreme people will remain at the center of this movement.
If you don't understand this, we can use the goal to discuss it. At first, everyone said that they wanted to get back the authors' interests. In a mere month, the impassioned people no longer care about the authors' interests. Their tendency of public opinion has become that if worst comes to worst, they will all die together. They even want Yuewen and the authors to die. This is because what happens next is linked to their face.
Did the things they did change? No, they have been using the same method to "rebel" from beginning to end.
This is the problem with the ass theory.
They want to always be righteous, but if you don't have the ability to distinguish the various stages of a matter, then all the resistance you do can only result in "everyone dying together." Do you want such people to fight for your interests?
This is the whole process of the Yuewen incident that I saw. During the whole process, you will say that my standpoint is wavering. I don't trust the capitalists, and I also don't trust the blind masses. Sometimes I oppose Yuewen, and sometimes I cool things down for Yuewen. I know that the position of the editors is basically the same as the position of the authors, but I also incite the authors to pressure the editors in the authors' group … If there is a reason for all these actions, I hope that in this complicated game, the possibility of the authors obtaining benefits will be slightly higher. I am not the most important person in this affair, but I can do no more than that.
Thank you to all the friends before and after the 55th who fought for the interests of the authors rationally. Thank you to the old editors who were originally at Qidian. Thank you to Toad, Zhou Zi, Cuttlefish … I also have to thank Cheng Wu. He finally took a step back and gave everyone a way out.
*****
PS: Capitalists are not good people. Although Toad Pork Knuckle made a lot of specific requests, there were actually some problems that caused this sincere talk to be more of a formality. Since there is a good result, I will not talk about the specifics. Of course, there are some problems.
PS2: In the whole of May, in order to deal with the impact of the lack of updates, Qidian had two technical and operational problems. It is a bit like trying everything in a desperate situation. This reminded me of the few times when I was eating with Bao Jian Feng, The Will, and the others. Even when they were traveling or socializing, they would still use their phones to read Qidian's web novels. Even after they had a few billion in wealth, they still did so. This is the biggest advantage of the first five people at Qidian in the online literature circle.
PS3: I hope that everyone can really gain some useful insights from this. I wrote a book, in which there is a ruler for scholars, and a sword for warriors. The ruler always makes people feel conflicted, but the sword makes people feel refreshed. However, in our lives, we only need to use that sword in the most extreme situations, and 99% of the time, we need to use the ruler. This ruler is closely related to dialectical materialism.
That is all.
(Also to advertise for "", there are a few more pictures in there)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
