Emperor Ming Dynasty

The weather is hot and dry, and the city of Beijing is like a dried salted fish, with bitterness everywhere.

Outside the Zhengyang Gate, there is a street of theater buildings, but it is as lively as ever, without any loss at all.

"Master, the Chang'an Theater is here—"

Zhu Cunqu was sitting in a rickshaw, and felt his fast running energy, which was quite fresh for a while.

After leaving Beijing for only a year or so, it's really strange to start a new business.

"Here, cart driver, how much is your money?"

"From Chongwenmen to Zhengyangmen, it's more than four miles away. You can give it to the four elders!"

Big son, copper round also.

The coachman wiped the sweat with a towel around his neck, his clothes were already soaked, his neck was red, and he had a flattering smile on his face.

"How did your rickshaw become popular?"

Zhu Cunqu was puzzled.

Just two days after he returned to Beijing, he wandered around. Of course he knew the excitement in the court, but it was also necessary to understand the people's sentiments.

What else is more suitable than a crowded theater?
"My son, you can't see that you are from Beijing. Those carriages in the past, although they are impressive, they are expensive!"

The coachman laughed and said, "Beijing is well connected in all directions, but there are many small streets and alleys. Our rickshaw can reach places that horse-drawn carriages cannot reach."

“Cheap and convenient.”

"There are only four big coins in the four miles. If you hire a horse-drawn carriage, you won't be able to get a penny. After all, the horse eats better than people, isn't it?"

Zhu Cunqu nodded slightly and got out of the carriage.

Looking at the bustling streets, he felt emotional: "I haven't seen you for a year, and there are more and more people in the capital."

"Master, I heard that there are 430 calligraphy shops in the four counties of the capital..."

At this time, out of breath, several guards came rushing forward, and the leader whispered.

Zhu Cunqu's heart skipped a beat.

Zipu is an urban grass-roots structure that replaces the fangli system. It is prefaced by the thousand-character script, and every [-] households set up a word shop to carry out civil affairs such as fire prevention, thieves, and household registration.

In the early years of Shaowu, there were only about [-] people in the huge city of Beijing, and the number of thousands of characters was enough.

Later, as the number of people in the capital continued to increase, Xuanwu and Chongwen counties were also established, and the total population of Beijing easily exceeded 50 and 80.
Immediately, the temporary residence permit system was released to avoid the infinite expansion of the population of the capital.

And the character shop has also changed from controlling one hundred households to five hundred households.

Like the population of a small town.

And calligraphy shops generally have only one room, one inspector, and several white servants. It is very difficult for three or five people to handle a hundred households. When it expands to five hundred households, the pressure is already enormous.

Officials have always treated their feet when they hurt their feet, so they directly increased the number of white servants to deal with huge management problems.

In this way, as far as Zhu Cunqu knows, the number of white servants in Xuanwu County alone exceeds 3000, but the official difference is only about [-] people.

There are 430 character shops, and each character shop has 21 households, that is [-] households.

This is only the resident population, and there are still a large number of people going to Beijing, no less than 20. The city of Beijing easily exceeded one million, at least 120 million.

These people have at least one million stones in food every month, which is an exaggeration.

"I heard that the father is thinking about a new system to replace or assist the calligraphy shop. I don't know what to do..."

Zhu Cunqu felt the pressure deeply.

Surrounded by the crowd, they wandered in this theater building and street.

It is indeed a street of theater buildings, there are countless guises, and there are many chalk writing on the blackboard of today's tunes.

"Guest officer, take a look, tonight Xiaofengxian sings "The Story of the West Chamber", and the fairy descends..."

"Qi Guan plays and sings Zhuge Liang, not to mention how enjoyable it is—"

"Zhao Qinian talks about Romance of the Three Kingdoms again, Zhao Zilong enters seven times and exits seven—"

The yelling with different accents poured into the ears, just like singing an opera. The southern tune and the northern tune have their own flavors, so I don't feel bored.

The spectators come in groups, no matter how poor they are, they are still in long gowns, holding paper fans, shaking their heads and discussing, and only enter to watch when they meet their wishes.

Walking on this street, you can see gentleness. Except for the drivers and delivery guys, there are not many poor people who go to the theater.

Scholars, gentry, businessmen, and even luxuriously dressed servants are all frequent visitors here.

"Didn't you say that the first floor of the theater is cheap to watch?"

The first time he came to this kind of place, Zhu Cunqu felt that it was different from the legend.

"Master, it's only morning!" The guard at the side said hurriedly, "How many free days do the poor have?"

"At night, those mud-legged people earn three melons and two dates, so they are determined to watch it. At this time, they are still busy paying for the night ticket!"

"That's it."

Zhu Cunqu smiled.

At this time, the guard on the side opened an umbrella to block him from the sun.

Walking and walking, the largest and most beautiful theater building appeared in front of us:

"Chang'an Theater?"

"Is this what King Liao ordered?"

"Yes, King Liao went to Jiufan of Liao Kingdom a few months ago and took away most of the actors from Chang'an Theater, but even so, Chang'an Theater is still a first-class existence."

"For example, the female consort, Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan, are all his classic repertoires, singing, reciting and playing, all of them are proficient, and they are well-known."

Hearing the guard's praise, Zhu Cunqu laughed and said, "Forget it, let's go and have a look!"

He was in the Northeast that day, and he didn't personally send the fourth child to the Fan. Today, when he strolled around in his theater, he could see things and think about others.

Exquisite, bright, full of charm, full of scholarly taste, quiet in the midst of hustle and bustle.

As soon as I entered the building, I heard the flower drum playing and singing with endless aftertaste:
"The left hand gong and the right hand drum

Singing with gongs and drums in hand

I can't sing other songs

Shan can sing a Fengyang song

fluttering

fluttering

It's floating around..."

Two women and one man, one plays, one sings, and the other dances with drums.

The posture is graceful, although it is not as grand as the palace, but it has a unique folk beauty.

The melody is vivid and unforgettable.

Zhu Cunqu took a look, and the sign next to it said Fengyang Huagu in four big characters.

Suddenly, he walked up the stairs slowly.

As one of the three capitals of the Ming Dynasty, Fengyang's status is self-evident. Even though it is no longer the capital, the majestic Fengyang high wall can scare many clan children to death.

In theory, his ancestral home is also Fengyang.

"Not bad." Zhu Cunqu praised.

The guy who led the way saw this man dressed in extraordinary clothes, and hurriedly led him to the third floor: "This young man has a good ear, in Fengyang Huagu was specially invited from Fengyang Mansion, in the huge city of Beijing, our Chang'an Theater is the most pleasing to the ears. "

"To be disrespectful, even in the palace, you can't hear this smell..."

As he said that, he directly opened a box and charged 30 yuan in silver dollars.

"You can stay in this box for a day. We have everything here. After listening to Huagu, there are Suzhou Pingtan in the south, Yiyang Opera, Yuyao Opera, and Kun Opera. If you don't like it, there are Qin Opera, Bangzi, Puppet Show, and Shadow Puppetry in the north. Storytelling, everything."

"Such as The Story of the West Chamber, The Story of the Purple Hairpin, Dou E's Injustice, Wen Ji's Entry into the Fortress, etc. You can order them."

"Hey, as long as you pay, you can watch what you want."

"Oh? How much is it to order a song?"

"Not much, just 50 silver dollars." The clerk complimented, "For a rich man like you, it's just a meal."

Zhu Cunqu chuckled: "Go down!"

The man reluctantly left.

Well, 50 silver dollars is enough to buy a house in the capital, and enough for a middle-class family to live in the capital for a year.

It was obvious that he was bullying those cheeky princes.

As soon as I was seated, the waiter brought a flower basket: "Mr. Zhao sent a flower basket, with a beautiful singing voice, three feet around the beam——"

The three people on the window sill naturally bowed down and thanked them.

"How much is this flower basket?"

"Master, I heard it's ten silver dollars." The guard whispered.

"It's really..." Zhu Cunqu shook his head, these young masters really played too hard.

Immediately, the Fengyang Flower Drum came to an end, and the three of them thanked and left.

At this time, the curtain opened.

The announcer said loudly: "Today's new play, Raksha Haishi."

Soon after, I heard the sound of reading aloud: Ma Ji, named Longmei, Jia Renzi.Beautiful and handsome.Less suave, happy singing and dancing.Noir from Liyuan's children wear brocade handkerchiefs around their heads, they are as beautiful as a good girl, because they have the title of "handsome man"...

Afterwards, the curtain rises, and a handsome man stands on board, indicating that he is sailing the seas.

To Zhu Cunqu's amazement, the side sound actually had the sound of waves, and the half of the bow was very similar to the imitation, which can be said to have reached the level of blurring the human eye, as if he was really at sea.

Afterwards, Rakshasa Kingdom arrived...

The upside-down country, where ugliness is beautiful, is amazing.

Many people enjoyed the novelty story very much, but Zhu Cunqu saw the irony in it:

The world is turbid, the world of mortals is rolling, fish and dragons are mixed, and there are countless reversals of black and white.

Although this is novel, it is ironic.

A Raksha Haishi performance lasted for an hour, most of them used ordinary Yiyang tunes, but the arias were nothing, except for the roads and makeup which were extremely imitative.

It profoundly interprets the ugly image of Rakshasa Kingdom, and it is lifelike, making people unconsciously believe that such a country really exists.

But Zhu Cunqu understands that the Raksha Kingdom really exists, traveling thousands of miles, with a high nose and deep eyes, it is not so strange and ugly.

"Luocha Haishi, yes, the writing is really good."

Zhu Cunqu clapped his hands and applauded: "Go, call the book editor."

"Yes!"

Pu Songling, who was also watching her own work on the stage for the first time, was standing on the second floor, staring blankly at the dishes without moving her heart.

After the performance was over, he looked around, and the audience discussed happily one by one, still nostalgic for the novel Raksha Haishi.

But just like ordinary mythological dramas, there is only curiosity, but no thinking.

This is not in line with his original intention.

Maybe it doesn't match Chang'an Theater?

Being able to perform is already considered good. In the huge city of Beijing, only the Chang'an Theater likes novelties the most. It dares to be the first in the world and perform new plays that no one else has performed before.

And other theaters only sing old dramas, which is safe, but it is not friendly to newcomers.

Just when he was in a daze, the clerk ran over: "Mr. Pu, the honored guests on the third floor want to see you, and what you see between your fingers is enough to feed us for three years."

"Yes!" Pu Songling was taken aback, but he lost the reserve of a literati.

Failure to pass the township examination several times in a row completely wiped out his arrogance, and it became necessary to support his family.

The story he made up before was brought to the capital by a friend and sold for a good price, so he came to Beijing from Shandong to find a way out.

In his view, Shaowu's reform of the imperial examination, which removed stereotyped essays from the rural examination, was completely unreasonable. Ten years of hard study was wasted, and he had to study again.

This is what made him not the first.

There are no boxes on the second floor, and the tables are arranged in an orderly manner, with broad beans and melon seeds at most, while the third floor is a box with expensive pastries.

"Are you the author of Luochahai City?"

"Under Pu Songling, Bucai makes a living by doing this."

"Very good." Zhu Cunqu said with a smile, "This play is really well written. The world is turbid, and there are countless people who turn black and white. Although this Raksha Haishi is in the book, it is all over the world."

"Mr. satirizing the present is really the pinnacle."

Pu Songling was overjoyed, there was finally someone who knew how to appreciate herself.

Knowing that Pu Songling is from Shandong and failed in the provincial examination, Zhu Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile, "I lacked some luck in the rural examination. If you don't care about it, I still have this relationship in the Northeast. There is a shortage of officials in Heilongjiang."

"After three to five years, sir, why not be a county magistrate?"

Pu Songling was grateful, but words were related to the future, and he needed to go back and think about it before making a decision.

Zhu Cunqu didn't care.

"I don't know good or bad." The guard said disdainfully.

"He is a scholar after all, and he still wants to be a scholar. No matter how bad he is, if he passes the provincial examination, he will have the opportunity to be an official. He will go to the Northeast to endure hardships. I don't know if he will come back!"

Zhu Cunqu said softly: "As the so-called friendship is shallow, I have violated this taboo."

After saying that, he lost his mind and returned to the East Palace.

The eldest son, who is more than one year old, can already walk, trembling, chubby, lively and cute, the prince is very happy.

After wandering around for a few days, he took the East Palace staff and went to the Summer Resort.

The emperor still looks relaxed in his clothes, with a young and ruddy complexion, as if he is 30 years old, not 40 years old.

Seeing it, Zhu Cunqu sighed in his heart, his father's body is really healthy, maybe he can live to seventy or eighty!

If it is similar to Taizu and his old man, wouldn't I be miserable?

Thinking of being the prince for another 30 to [-] years, most of the joy in Zhu Cunqu's heart dissipated immediately.

"You have been to the Northeast for a long time, why did a woman get pregnant?"

The moment Zhu Yixi saw the prince, his expression was a little pale, and his tone was not very good.

"The grand prince of Ming Dynasty, with such a weak heir, what's the use of better governance in the Arctic City? You have to remember, I let you hone it, and don't expect any results."

"The most important task for you now is to multiply your offspring and make your direct branch prosper. This is more important than anything else."

"My son knows."

Faced with the emperor's scolding, the prince responded with a face full of shame.

Well, you saw that someone got pregnant again two days ago, how can I compare with you?
In this way, the sense of distance between father and son suddenly disappeared.

Asking the prince to get up, Zhu Yixi casually introduced the robbery case in Anhui: "What does the prince think?"

"My son thinks that there must be something strange about this matter."

The prince knew that it was the school himself, so he immediately cheered up.