This director lacks vision.

Chapter 342 Remake of Jade Dynasty?

That afternoon, Toutiao stirred things up by pushing a news story to the top of its app's trending news list.

This news article was written by Jiujiang Finance, with the title "Zhang Chaoyang retires in disgrace, Jiang Yifeng takes complete control of Souhu Group!"

"Zhang Chaoyang was born in 1964 and is only 49 years old this year. To be honest, it's a bit early for him to want to retire now, and everyone finds it very sudden."

This is illogical from an age perspective.

However, from the perspective of internal corporate struggles, Zhang Chaoyang's retirement was inevitable.

Within the Sohu Group, Jiang Yifeng's reputation had long surpassed that of Zhang Chaoyang.

If we carefully review the development of Sohu Group in recent years, it is not difficult to find that the key decisions are actually related to Jiang Yifeng.

In March 2009, Sohu Video promoted its brand image as a legitimate, high-definition platform. Zhang Chaoyang wanted to establish an anti-piracy alliance, but no one responded to him.

Just when Zhang Chaoyang was at his wit's end, Jiang Yifeng suggested that he buy up a large number of legitimate films and TV series and distribute them to other video websites at low prices, thereby expanding the ranks of legitimate websites.

With shared interests, the anti-piracy alliance was naturally formed.

As a result, Sohu Video acquired a large number of film and television drama copyrights at low prices. These dramas are now one of Sohu Video's competitive advantages, helping Sohu Video firmly maintain its leading position in the market.

In July of the same year, Jiang Yifeng once again demonstrated his unique vision by suggesting that Zhang Chaoyang buy the domain name "weibo.com" and establish Sohu Weibo.

Leveraging its first-mover advantage and domain name advantage, as well as the support of celebrities from Fengxing Media, Sohu Weibo has a market share of over 80%, making it the largest public domain social platform in China.

We can see that the biggest developments of Sohu Group in the past two years, Sohu Video and Sohu Weibo, all came from Jiang Yifeng's suggestions.

Moreover, Jiang Yifeng used Fengxing Media's strong content production capabilities to ensure the market position of these two major platforms and led Sohu Entertainment to remain profitable.

In contrast, Zhang Chaoyang's internal management in recent years has been lackluster.

Within Sohu Group, Jiang Yifeng's prestige is rising, to the point where his achievements are so great that they threaten the group's leadership.

Zhang Chaoyang wasn't inactive either.

Sohu Video's acquisition of Huanrui was a balancing act by Zhang Chaoyang. He wanted to support Zhao Zhicheng to counter Jiang Yifeng and use Huanrui to counter Fengxing Media.

When Huanrui was planning to invest 200 million yuan to film "Zhu Xian", many executives of Sohu Video publicly opposed it.

In the end, Zhang Chaoyang overruled all objections and insisted on filming "Zhu Xian".

Therefore, the TV series "Zhu Xian" is not just a TV series within Sohu; it is related to the success or failure of Zhang Chaoyang's balancing strategy.

If the "Zhu Xian" technique succeeds, Zhang Chaoyang will continue to support Zhao Zhicheng and Huanrui, suppress Jiang Yifeng's reputation, and thus achieve a balance in the group's internal management.

As we all know, the series "Zhu Xian" was poorly made and resulted in losses.

As it turns out, a genius like Jiang Yifeng is a once-in-a-century talent.

Zhao Zhicheng is also excellent, but he is far inferior to Jiang Yifeng; the two are not even in the same league.

Zhang Chaoyang's idea of ​​using Zhao Zhicheng to counter Jiang Yifeng is utterly delusional.

Therefore, after the failure of Zhuxian, Zhang Chaoyang could no longer stop Jiang Yifeng's rise, and the hearts of the people within Souhu Group were all on Jiang Yifeng's side.

Even if he doesn't retire, he'll be sidelined.

Therefore, Zhang Chaoyang simply chose to retire gracefully.

Some people may wonder why Jiang Yifeng is not the new CEO of Sohu Group?
Jiang Yifeng was just being low-key.

Deng Ye, the new CEO of Soohu Group, was originally the CEO of Soohu Video, and is a member of Jiang Yifeng's faction.

Her appointment as CEO of the group means that Jiang Yifeng has completely taken control of Sohu Group.

Next, there will definitely be new moves within Sohu Group. I predict the following:

First, Zhao Zhicheng will be dismissed, and Huanrui will replace its senior executives, who will definitely come from Fengxing Media.
Second, Wu Yanjun, the general manager of Sohu Entertainment, will be reassigned or dismissed, as he is at odds with Jiang Yifeng.

Third, Sogou may be sold, as Jiang Yifeng dislikes this business;

Fourth, Sohu Changyou's business will undergo adjustments, and it may collaborate with Fengling Studio under Jiang Yifeng's name.

Although Zhang Chaoyang's retirement is regrettable, I still want to say that in business, the most capable should come first.

Jiang Yifeng is more capable than Zhang Chaoyang, and under his leadership, Souhu Group will have a better future.

This will also be reflected in the stock price.

So I have one last prediction:
After the US stock market opens tonight, the stock prices of Sohu, Sohu Video, and Sohu Changyou will all rise.

Battle reports may be deceiving, but the front lines will not.

The capital market is very astute, and they are optimistic about Souhu Group under Jiang Yifeng's leadership.

This news report from Jiujiang Finance contained both insider information and reasonable analysis, as well as some superficial conspiracy theories. It was quickly reprinted and reported by major media outlets and received a lot of likes from netizens.

"This report makes sense. Zhang Chaoyang retired before the age of 50, which must have been because he lost the internal power struggle to Jiang Yifeng."

"What kind of deformed person is Zhao Zhicheng? How can he compare to Jiang Yifeng?"

"Zhao Zhicheng is awesome, okay? Look at his resume, he's definitely an outstanding person. It's just that he looks weak when he meets a monster like Jiang Yifeng."

"I don't care about the internal struggles at Sohu. Jiang Yifeng is in power now, so can't we remake Jade Dynasty? The current Jade Dynasty is terrible!"

As the reports spread, topics such as the internal strife between Jiang Yifeng and Zhang Chaoyang, and Jiang Yifeng's control of Souhu Group, became trending topics on Weibo, attracting wider attention.

In particular, some of the predictions made in Jiujiang Finance's reports have actually come true.

On the night Zhang Chaoyang announced his retirement, the stocks of the Sohu Group did indeed surge after the US stock market opened, with Sohu's stock rising by 7%!

Two days later, Zhao Zhicheng posted a statement on Weibo, saying that he had left Huanrui and would start his own business again.

In his statement, Zhao Zhicheng expressed his grievances, stating that he had been targeted and ostracized by certain people, which made it impossible for him to work normally.

Although he didn't name names, netizens generally believe he was referring to Jiang Yifeng.

No one supported Zhao Zhicheng's words because Huanrui's production of "Zhu Xian" was so bad that he was fired, which netizens found very satisfying and applauded.

On September 26, Sogou signed an agreement with Tencent, under which Tencent acquired Sogou for US$7.85 million, making Sogou a subsidiary of Tencent.

As soon as this news came out, Jiujiang Finance's reporting became legendary.

More conspiracy theories are circulating online, such as Jiang Yifeng forcing Zhang Chaoyang to retire, Zhang Chaoyang being sidelined by Jiang Yifeng long ago, and Jiang Yifeng being ungrateful.

The various comments are becoming increasingly outrageous.

These people don't even bother to think things through. The amount of money Tencent is spending on acquiring Sogou is so huge, is it something that can be negotiated in just a few days?
It's clear that Zhang Chaoyang made up his mind to retire, and dealt with Wang Xiaochuan, Wu Yanjun and others in advance to pave the way for Jiang Yifeng to take power.

Of course, Jiang Yifeng was the one who dismissed Zhao Zhicheng.

On the afternoon of September 28th, Jiang Yifeng finished the post-production work for "Lost in..." and arrived at Yishui Lake.

Seeing Zhang Chaoyang fishing by the lake, he went over and complained, "Old Zhang, you're not being fair! You're enjoying yourself fishing here while leaving me with the company's burdens, and you even made me get scolded by netizens."

Zhang Chaoyang originally intended to hand over Sohu Video to Jiang Yifeng to manage, and find someone else to manage the group's other businesses.

But no matter how many options he considered, Zhang Chaoyang was still not satisfied; no one was more suitable than Jiang Yifeng.

So they simply hired Deng Ye as CEO. Deng Ye had an excellent relationship with Hu Qian and was a staunch supporter of Jiang Zemin within Sohu Group.

In addition, Zhang Chaoyang sold Sogou and dismissed Wu Yanjun, which made his stance very clear.

Hearing Jiang Yifeng's complaints, Zhang Chaoyang laughed smugly and said, "Young people shouldn't think about being lazy. This is the age for hard work, so you should take on more responsibilities."

Jiang Yifeng retorted directly: "But my ranking on Forbes is higher than yours. You've already retired, so what's the point of me striving?"

Zhang Chaoyang: "..."

Jiang Yifeng owns a significant portion of the company's shares, and with his own investments such as stock trading, his net worth has long surpassed Zhang Chaoyang's.

Jiang Yifeng continued to complain: "Even though you're retired, you're still the big boss of the group. We'll do the hard and dirty work, while you eat, drink, and have fun every day. Damn it, I want to retire like you!"

Zhang Chaoyang looked at Jiang Yifeng and shook his head, saying, "You should just give up. You're too restless right now; you're a workaholic!"

Your only hobby is playing with beautiful women, and that's how you relieve stress at work.

"In the end, you still prefer working. I've asked you to go fishing so many times, and you've already turned me down."

Zhang Chaoyang wasn't wrong; Jiang Yifeng was indeed passionate about his career.

He actually treated collecting system rewards like a game.

This mechanism of receiving immediate positive feedback for every effort is indeed addictive.

Jiang Yifeng would also feel uncomfortable if he were to completely stop filming.

Moreover, the difference between a man's working life and his retirement is significant.

Jiang Yifeng was highly influential on set and at his company; everyone fawned over him.

Even if you retire, you will still be respected, but you will have less power, and the feeling will be different.

This is one of the reasons why Jackie Chan is still filming in film crews at his advanced age.

As long as Jackie Chan joins the production team, he becomes the big brother of the entertainment industry, everyone revolves around him, and he gains power.

If he retires and stops acting, he'll just be a wretched old man staying at home, constantly criticized by his wife.

Look at Li Lianjie's future situation; even if she opens a Douyin account, hardly anyone will pay attention to her.

Of course, work can be tiring, but retirement will be much easier.

It depends on individual preferences and choices.

With Jiang Yifeng's superhuman physique, work is like play, and he has plenty of positive motivation, so of course work is even more enjoyable.

While talking to Jiang Yifeng, Zhang Chaoyang kept an eye on the float. When he saw a bite, he yanked the rod and hooked a big crucian carp.

Having fished for so long, Zhang Chaoyang has honed his fishing skills.

He tossed the fish into the fish basket, wiped his hands, and continued, "If you can, you should reshoot Jade Dynasty."

Jiang Yifeng took the fishing rod prepared by the staff and asked as he cast the line, "Why?"

Zhang Chaoyang explained, "Changyou and Perfect World have reached an agreement to jointly develop the Jade Dynasty mobile game."

I promised them that the TV series "Zhu Xian" would be a huge hit, which would help the mobile game launch.

I feel really bad that this drama is so bad now, it's even affecting the Jade Dynasty IP.

With the improvement of mobile phone performance and the popularization of 4G networks, the mobile game market has begun to expand rapidly.

Some major game companies have also started developing mobile games.

Perfect World has the game adaptation rights to Jade Dynasty, while Sohu has the film and television adaptation rights and distribution channels for Jade Dynasty. In addition, a large portion of the employees of Perfect World's Jade Dynasty project team are former employees of Sohu Changyou.

Therefore, both parties quickly reached an agreement and decided to jointly develop the mobile game "Zhu Xian".

The plan itself was fine; it was just that Huanrui's production of Jade Dynasty messed it up.

Zhang Chaoyang's boastful claims failed to materialize.

Hearing this, Jiang Yifeng thought for a moment and said, "A reshoot is possible, but it will be next year. Also, if I were to film Jade Dynasty, it wouldn't be very long, less than 10 episodes."

Jade Dynasty is an IP that naturally attracts a large following, so there's nothing wrong with making films and videos about Jade Dynasty to generate rewards.

Moreover, this was a request made by Zhang Chaoyang shortly after his retirement, so Jiang Yifeng couldn't refuse, otherwise it would seem like he had forgotten about him after his departure.

After collecting so many system rewards, Jiang Yifeng now understands.

Dramas with the theme of "Zhu Xian" are inherently inferior to the system and cannot obtain a five-star reward.

In that case, why not take a short, quick approach and shoot in different seasons?

This way, you can earn more rewards and also make the storyline more fast-paced.

"You're already doing me a favor by agreeing to reshoot," Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile. "As for whether it's a long or short series, you can decide for yourself."

After discussing work, Jiang Yifeng and Zhang Chaoyang started a fish-pinching contest.

Zhang Chaoyang's fishing skills were getting better and better, and he was also more familiar with Yishui Lake. Jiang Yifeng almost lost, but luckily he caught a five-pound carp and made a comeback.

That evening, Jiang Yifeng posted a Weibo message.

"That's right, I had a fight with Zhang Chaoyang, and he lost this time! When it comes to fishing skills, @ZhangChaoyang, you still have a lot more to practice!"

Below this Weibo post, Jiang Yifeng attached several photos of himself and Zhang Chaoyang fishing together.

Zhang Chaoyang also posted a Weibo post.

"I didn't choose the right fishing spot today, which allowed @JiangYifeng to take advantage of me. I'll definitely beat him next time!"
But this loss wasn't without its gains. At least Jiang Yifeng promised me that he would remake Jade Dynasty, and he would personally direct it.

Fans of Jade Dynasty, please look forward to it!

The interaction between the two on Weibo dispelled previous rumors of internal strife and discord, and also announced that Jiang Yifeng would be remaking Jade Dynasty.

Although some people still believe in conspiracy theories, the emergence of interactive Weibo has at least reduced the number of outrageous comments.

As for the fans of the novel "Zhu Xian", they spread the news and were very happy.

Everyone is looking forward to Jiang Yifeng's version of Jade Dynasty.

Jiang Yifeng received Liu Yifei's WeChat message immediately.

Come to my place tonight, Lu Xueqi will arrange it!

[Changchang said she wants to play Biyao, but I don't think it's suitable. Could you take a look?]

After sending the message, Liu Yifei posted two more photos.

The photo shows two fluffy tails, one of which has forked into a nine-tailed shape.

[If you like, I can also play the nine-tailed celestial fox, Xiao Bai~]

Jiang Yifeng waited for a while and found that Jing Tian and Na Zha did not move, so he made a decisive choice and went to audition with Liu Yifei and Shu Chang.

(End of this chapter)