In March, Zhao Jiu watched a drama in Gyeongbokgung Palace with the two noble concubines, the prime minister Lu Haowen, the chamberlains, and the accompanying civil and military ministers.

The name of Gyeongbokgung Palace is taken from the Book of Songs. It is said that "a gentleman will be blessed for thousands of years," and it is also said that "to enjoy and worship, to introduce blessings to the king", which is exactly the meaning of the main palace where the emperor lives.

In fact, East Asian culture comes from the same origin. Not only Tokyo in this era, but also the Forbidden City in another time and space, and even the later North Korean capital Seoul, had the existence of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

As for Zaju, it originated from the military drama similar to cross talk in the Tang Dynasty, but it has developed greatly. Shengdan Jingmo Chou has officially appeared, and the form of drama has also been greatly improved. Not only does it include the warm-up scenes before the original performance, but also

Doing things like encores and filling in the free time after the original.

Even a long time ago, Kaifeng Prefecture, under the promotion of Daxiangguo Temple, had its own exclusive drama "Mulian Saves His Mother". This Buddhist story must be performed for fifteen days starting from the Chinese Valentine's Day every year.

It has become a tradition of Kaifeng Prefecture. When the day comes, Kaifeng Prefecture officials, Daxiangguo Temple, and surrounding residents will prepare together.

Of course, the believers' money is divided into accounts, and the rich man and the monks pay back their money in full.

Back here, it is extremely common for Zhao Guan's family and his close ministers to watch a play in the palace... You must know that these days, drama, military drama, and even storytelling are extremely common forms of entertainment, even more popular than singing and dancing.

, there is no way that ordinary people can see and hear it, but the palace cannot listen.

In fact, as Bianjing regains its former vitality, these entertainment methods have shown popular trends that far exceed Zhao Jiu's imagination. Rich families gather and hold banquets, and ordinary people form associations and hold meetings, including Buddhist and Taoist activities.

, professionals will be invited to perform.

Naturally, customs are inevitable in the palace.

Even the palace was isolated from the inside and outside, and the nobles in the harem could not go outside for activities. These storytellers and dramas became their main forms of entertainment... For example, a certain queen mother liked listening to listening books most, and listened to them almost every day, and the storyteller talked about the Three Kingdoms

Ah, Journey to the West, these very popular stories these days, I had no choice but to temporarily include current events for daily updates. As a result, one day I made up a story about a recruitment campaign by the imperial court, and the effect was unexpected.

Well, the Queen Mother liked it very much, and she especially liked the character in the story who encouraged the protagonist to surrender to the court. So the Queen Mother didn’t need to speak at all, and the Emperor who noticed next to him upgraded that character to three levels when he returned!

This is true...if Zhao Jiu doesn't climb out of the well!

However, the reason why storytellers, military dramas, and dramas were so popular in the court was, after all, low cost and another very royal function.

"After talking for a long time, I gave you the money for two rings, but you only bought one ring?"

At the beginning of Yan Duan, it was just a drama of joining the army. However, joining the army asked Cang Tou to buy earrings as a gift for the young lady of the prime minister's family. However, joining the army was stingy and only gave him one and a half money, but he wanted to buy a pair of rings. So the two parties decided to buy a pair of earrings.

The ring was still two rings, and the money given for one ring or the money for two rings made a joke. In the end, Cangtou finally bought the ring, but in the end it was just one ring.

"The master who joined the army knows that this is one ring, but it is also two rings..."

"How to be both one ring and two rings?"

"Master, look at this ring. It's called the Holy Ear Ring. Isn't it two rings..."

"Yeah... why is it so ridiculous? So what if we call it the Two Holy Rings? The lady from the Prime Minister's family has two ears, and one ring can't be removed. How can I wear it?"

"Listen to what I have to say, Mr. Jun. If you really can't do it, let the noble lady from your husband's family wear this ring on the back of her head."

"Forget it, just let the noble man put the two holy rings behind his head for the time being..."

Before the joke was finished, the audience had already been silent when the homophonic joke about the return of the two saints came out. When they heard the last piece of baggage, it was even more silent. However, Zhao Guanjia sat there and ignored it, and there was no sound at all.

The two noble concubines were silent, and Lu Gongxiang just looked at the sky without saying a word. Several civil and military ministers looked at each other, and then each made preparations... not preparing to deal with these two actors who had the audacity to mock Zhao Guan's family for being unfilial and disloyal, but

Be prepared to give advice to Zhao Guanjia at any time.

The reason is very simple. Since the appearance of joining the army drama in the Tang Dynasty, it has gone through the confrontation with the Liao and Song Dynasties in the Five Dynasties, and has already formed a unique cultural atmosphere with the court... The actor had a nickname in the court, called "Wuguo Chong"

, it means that they are of low status and are innocent no matter how sarcastic they are.

For example, Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the Supreme Taoist Emperor among the Two Holy Circles... once encountered a commoner writing a letter in Xuande Tower, and was accused in person of being extravagant and abusing villains. As a result, this person criticized Cheng.

For the crime of public opinion, under the personal decree of the Emperor Taishang Daojun, he was punished with cannons, tortured and executed using the most cruel means to frighten the relevant people. Moreover, he never criticized the scholar-bureaucrats who wrote letters at all.

No mercy... However, even this kind of person always accepted the actor's ridicule.

Another example is that Xingzong of Liao, who was famous for "killing innocent people", was ridiculed by an actor to his face for being defeated by Xixia. He was furious for a while, but he was still pardoned under the advice of Prince Yelu Hongji.

In fact, in the entire history of the Song Dynasty, there was only one example of an actor being killed for mocking current affairs. That was decades later in another time and space, when Qin Hui was mocked in person about the peace talks, and the relevant actors were killed the next day.

.

Back to the present, Zhao Jiu cannot be worse than the king of subjugation, the tyrant, and Mr. Qin, right?

And sure enough, after Zhao Jiu thought for a long time, he directly waved to the two actors to come off the stage to see him, and his tone was not very serious. Seeing this, everyone on the left and right breathed a sigh of relief.

The two actors came over, bowed their hands in salute, and stood with their hands tied... Although they were bold before, they were still a little timid when they were in front of the official.

Of course, Zhao Jiu was going to scold him severely: "You two are not good at acting... Relying on the same pronunciation to laugh, it sounds funny, but it is just a rumor, not enough to become a famous story... I want to find you."

It's not a good place to use one's name. The imperial court has made a final decision on the matter of the Two Saints since the first year of Jianyan. It's not your place to say whether it's behind the head or not!"

The two actors looked at each other, one wanted to make fun of him, but the other was a little frightened and prepared to apologize.

However, before the two of them could speak, they saw that Zhao Guanjia continued to chatter: "According to me, whether it is a drama, a storyteller, or a military drama, the essence is to tell stories. The story is good, the characters are good, and there are

The connotation can truly spread... If you look at "Mu Lian Saves His Mother", although the Buddhist words are ridiculous and absurd, it is a complete story of mother and son after all. The son is filial and kind, and the mother is stingy and greedy. This is the outstanding character image.

It also mixes the Buddhist theory of karma and retribution and the promotion of filial piety, which can be regarded as having a main theme, so it can be called a famous drama... There are also "Three Kingdoms" in the storybook, the stories of Cao Mengde, Liu Xuande, Guan Yunchang, and Zhuge Kongming, so it is natural.

Only then can it last forever... Those of you who create these popular arts certainly have to find inspiration from history and life, but the key is to turn them into art, perfection, and finished products."

After what he said, the surrounding ministers, the imperial concubine, and the two actors who came out to warm up the scene were already stunned. Although some vocabulary in Zhao Guan's family is really weird, the Chinese words are of the same strain, and these people still understand the general meaning.

.

Therefore, after a long while, 'Joining the Army', who had long since given up the idea of ​​joining the army, cautiously said: "In order to let the officials know, we teaching assistants (the witch doctor Zabu calls himself) are all proficient in writing and do not have the ability to write good stories. If

"Mu Lian Saves His Mother" was written by a great Buddhist monk himself."

"What are you going to perform next?" Zhao Jiu frowned at each other.

Joining the Army and Cang Tou looked at each other, becoming more and more helpless: "It's "Mu Lian Saves His Mother".

Zhao Guanjia immediately lost interest: "If that's the case, I won't read it... However, Concubine Wu has always been a talented person. I asked her to write a "White Snake" tonight. Kill the Bald Donkey and be majestic. You guys

Come and pick it up tomorrow. When it’s arranged, I’ll take a look.”

As soon as these words came out, Joining the Army and Cang Tou were overjoyed, but the two noble concubines beside Zhao Guan's family all had sad faces. Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Lan Gui, Feng Yi, Li Ruopu, Fan Zongyin, Yu Yunwen, etc. were accompanying many civil and military servants today.

The close minister was behind him but felt a little powerless.

In other words, the officials used the name of Concubine Wu to write those messy things, and the officials used the name of Wu Guozhang to do those messy things... Who doesn't know?

Moreover, everyone knows that those things are ultimately inappropriate for an emperor.

But coming back to the topic, even if it is inappropriate, this official knows how to cover up and save face, so why should anyone bother to talk to a powerful official about these things?

"The officials are so generous, but they don't feel angry at all?"

The performance of "Mulian Saves His Mother" in Gyeongbokgung Palace has begun, but Zhao Jiu left the imperial concubine and the chamberlain, went out to the Yingri Gate with Lu Haowen and several ministers, and waited until the official's favorite place.

As soon as he sat down in the fish pond stone pavilion, Duke Lu Haowen greeted him with a smile.

"What's there to be angry about?" Zhao Jiu didn't take it seriously at all. "Since they are part of a team that can enter the palace, they are one of the few actors in Tokyo. These people usually only circulate in the circles of the powerful, but they don't really understand the truth.

It’s normal to misinterpret some people’s words as public opinion and just want to gain a reputation. If your attitude is right, why should you be harsh?”

Lu Haowen thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and then added a little: "When actors perform on stage, they always like to talk about things and show their posture."

This means that artists have more desire to perform... This is true, Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.

However, after Zhao Jiu nodded in approval, the monarch and his ministers became somewhat silent.

By the way, the current structure of the imperial court is very interesting.

On the surface, it looks very much like the Supreme Taoist Emperor in the "Two Sacred Rings" in the later period of his reign... The emperor is arrogant and has great power but seldom interferes with the affairs of the common people; the ministers of the imperial court are divided into categories, each with his own role.

Position and posture, and there is a vague situation of distinct factions; in addition, there is a high-profile minister living behind the scenes, grasping the most basic ideological work.

However, for others, that's all. For the monarch and minister sitting opposite each other in the pavilion, they knew that there was a huge difference between the two.

In the later period of Emperor Taishang Daojun, Cai Jing, as the prime minister, was the only one who truly enjoyed the power of governing, even though he was getting older. After years of management, he had become astonishingly full and could control all aspects of the court's work at any time.

Putting forward opinions and exerting influence... In other words, he was somewhat in a tug-of-war with Daojun and Emperor behind the scenes at that time, but he just failed.

But does Lu Haowen have that strength?

Not to mention anything else, I just say that it is now tied to Lu Gongxiang, almost forming a brand name, and it is also the principle that maintains the political life of the Duke. In fact, it was created by Zhao Guan's family, and then Lu Hao asked his father and son to study and study it.

Not only that, among the so-called factions in the imperial court, Zhang Jun's faction, the army's faction, and the inner court's faction, to put it bluntly, are actually all factions of Zhao Guan's family! Even after Li Gang resigned as prime minister, the remaining faction seemed to be the least merciful to Zhao Guan's family.

, key figures among them, such as Chen Gongfu, etc., also made gestures in front of Zhao Guan's family early on.

Therefore, in a sense, this court is really just the words of a dictator who wears the two holy rings behind his head. As the head of state, his power has no boundaries.

"The trees want to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop." After a long pause, Zhao Guanjia, whose power has no boundaries, suddenly expressed this emotion. "However, it can be considered as expected."

The minister opposite, Lu Haowen, nodded repeatedly, but then asked, "What are the officials going to do?"

Zhao Jiu, who was still sighing just now, just laughed and said what he said to Zhang Jun before: "There are many people in the world who want to eat, so I would rather subjugate the country than give food to these people!"

"Then what does public opinion say?" Lu Haowen continued to ask seriously.

"This is the reason why I am looking for Mr. Lu today." Zhao Jiu finally said seriously. "No matter what, I will continue to clean up the accumulated fraud, and there will never be any discount. As for these people, if they continue like this

Jumping up and down, I have no choice but to ignore my reputation and become a tyrant for once! Let’s see if they go to Jinan or Daming Mansion?”

Not only Lu Haowen, but also Li Ruopu, a Hanlin scholar standing next to him, sighed softly.

By the way, everyone present knows that today's ridicule by the actor did not come suddenly, but was foreshadowed... I just say that in the letter submitted yesterday, many people publicly pleaded for the six relatives who had spread the rumors before.
To be continued...