Rebirth of the Republic of China: The Story of the Chaebol

While football is undergoing reforms vigorously, basketball is also becoming increasingly popular in South China.

Since the sport of basketball was introduced to South China thirteen years ago, although there are many people playing basketball in South China over the years, the professional basketball league in South China was not established until four years ago.

Before the birth of HNA, basketball games in South China were mostly concentrated in high schools and colleges. Although these two events are not professional leagues, in fact, their attention in the country is not low at all, especially the playoffs of the college basketball league, which attracts no less attention than the South China Championship Cup.

Especially in recent years, with the increasing number of outdoor basketball courts, the audience of basketball has become wider and wider. Now the number of registered basketball players in South China is almost over 8 million.

However, although the Basketball Association has a large number of registered members, there are not many athletes who truly take basketball as a profession.

"Old Five, are you sure you don't want to be the king anymore?"

Starting from 40, in order to live in the country for a long time, Sun Tong's younger brothers, starting with Sun Wei, all came to Sun Tong one by one hoping to abdicate the throne.

The reason why Sun Tong asked them to take over the five countries of Nantai was that he had no choice. With the continuous development of Nanhua, there is really no need for these five countries to continue to exist.

However, in order not to treat his younger brothers unfairly, after they returned to the country, Sun Tong still retained the title of prince for them. He also selected some places with excellent natural environment in Nanhua as their fiefdoms.

Take Sun Wei for example. After the change of title, his noble title has now become Prince of Palawan, and the entire Palawan Islands are now his fiefdom.

Originally, there had been no movement from the fifth brother, and Sun Tong thought that this guy was reluctant to give up the throne from him. However, he did not expect that this guy suddenly ran up to him and said that he wanted to transfer the throne.

"I've thought about it a long time ago. If I hadn't been busy with other things in the past two years, I would have returned to live in Xin'an a long time ago."

None of Sun Tong's younger brothers was willing to be ordinary. Compared to running away to a remote place to become a king, they obviously hoped to make a career.

Let’s not talk about Sun Wei. Now he is the dean of the Institute of Physics of the Royal Academy of Sciences of South China, and he has long been a physics master in South China.

Apart from him, the other brothers in the family are also capable people. Some of them are pursuing careers in the military, while others are concentrating on developing business. It can be said that the five children that Sun Tong adopted have now all become his most reliable helpers.

Compared with them, Sun Xiaoting, an old girl who is about to turn 40 but has never been married, can basically not help Sun Tong in any way except staying in the palace to eat and drink.

"It's good for you to come back and live here, so that our family can see each other more often. It just so happens that I have a job here that I have never found a suitable candidate to take charge of. Now that you are back, I will leave it to you."

"Brother, what's the job?"

"I hope you can be the chairman of the Basketball Association of Nanhua. Our domestic sports industry is developing rapidly, but other than football and horse racing, other sports are still in a state of disorder. I hope you can start with basketball and gradually formalize the domestic sports industry. When you have developed the basketball industry, I plan to let you take over the position of Minister of Sports."

"Brother, I know nothing about basketball. How can I manage it well?"

"If you don't understand, you can learn. I don't trust others to do this, so it's safest for you to be in charge. Besides, you just need to lay a foundation. I mainly hope that you can take over the position of Minister of Sports as soon as possible."

"I understand. Don't worry, big brother. I will definitely help you do this beautifully."

South China is one of the few countries that has set up a position in charge of the sports industry among senior government officials. According to the ranking given by the cabinet, although the Minister of Sports is ranked last, one thing should not be forgotten, that is, once you become the Minister of Sports, you will be a real cabinet member.

In South China, the status of a cabinet minister is of very high quality. Let's put it this way, if a person can become a cabinet minister and has no disciplinary problems during his term of office, then after he retires, this person can at least get a lifelong title. If he can make some contributions while in office, then even a hereditary title is not without a chance.

In fact, many of the first members of the Nanhua Cabinet have retired after reaching the age limit. Sun Tong has given great respect to these old ministers, regardless of their abilities.

Among these people, the worst one could get a hereditary viscount. Those who were better off, such as Jiao Hongguang and Xue Xiang, were given a hereditary duke title by Sun Tong when they retired.

From the initial Longhua territory to the present day, over twenty years have passed, and Sun Tong has only conferred eight dukes in all these years, which shows how respected and precious the title of duke is in Nanhua!