African Nationhood

Chapter 106 Internal Affairs-Culture

It was already late May when we returned to Walvis Bay, and the Indian Ocean was generally calm at the beginning of summer.

The 90-meter hull of the "Jinshan Town" has good wind and wave resistance, and the journey was smooth.

However, there were still some immigrants who could not withstand the surging waves, and more than twenty people were lost along the way.

Because the body cannot be left in the sea for a long time, it can only be buried in water.

However, the Nanhua Company announced that it would record the names of the deceased immigrants and help them set up cemeteries when they arrived in Southwest Africa.

In addition, Shi Jintang also arranged for musicians from Liu Yinhuan's troupe to help play funeral songs to see off the deceased immigrants.

These measures made the immigrants on the ship feel grateful and felt that Mr. Shi was kind and a good man.

Although the immigrants' daily meals on the ship were not rich, they were filling, and the white crew were very kind to the Chinese immigrants.

After the Chinese immigrants had eaten their fill, they couldn't help but make random guesses about where Master Shi's power came from?
  ……

Liu Yinhuan and his wife's theatrical troupe and their entire family were arranged in the first-class cabin on the ship. Although it was a bit crowded, their daily life was not affected.

Moreover, Mr. Shi often went to the class leader Cao Xiong and the rehearsing master Zhao Yinsheng to talk about rehearsing.

With Master Shi's instruction, Mr. Zhao Yinsheng quickly wrote three new plays, "Sunny Life", "Immigration Paradise" and "Happy Marriage".

These three new plays follow three different protagonists with different identities.

They are fugitive beggars, landless peasants and down-and-out scholars. The one thing they all have in common during the Qing Dynasty is that they live in poverty and embarrassment.

But after they arrived in Southwest Africa under the rule of the Nanhua Company, they immediately had no worries about food and drink, lived and worked in peace and contentment, and had a happy marriage.

As soon as these three new plays came out, Liu Yinhuan and his wife immediately realized that Mr. Shi was extraordinary.

This young rich man is so thoughtful!
  Feeling that Mr. Shi's heart was as deep as the sea, they worked harder.

But they also felt a headache. There were three plays, long lyrics and characters, and it was impossible for their small troupe to rehearse them.

So Liu Yinhuan and his wife took Mrs. Zhao Yinsheng, who was writing the play, and the three of them found Mr. Shi together.

After understanding their difficulties, Shi Jintang immediately gave them advice.

You can omit the lyrics, just say the lyrics directly, as long as the character setting is not ridiculous.

Liu Yinhuan and the other three were naturally confused. Could this be called opera if there were no lyrics?
  So Mr. Shi personally explained the story and performed a plot for them.

Although the three people disagreed, they still followed Master Shi's advice.

……

Shi Jintang had nothing to do on the boat, so he asked Shi Ming and other guards to go to the immigration and ask if there was anyone willing to perform a show. Those who were willing to perform would be rewarded with a piece of meat.

As soon as they heard that meat was available, many immigrants were willing to try it.

Shi Jintang took Liu Yinhuan and his wife, and Zhao Yinsheng and his wife on the top deck to interview immigrants who were willing to act.

The interview process was an eye-opener for Liu Yinhuan and the others. Master Shi's idea was really strange.

A few sentences define a situation for the immigrants who come for the interview to perform.

Many immigrants who came here to eat meat quickly became discouraged.

Either he has the guts to write a novel and is speechless, or he simply cannot act and makes a fool of himself.

Only a few can perform specific actions and lines according to regulations.

Whenever there is such an interviewer, Mr. Shi will just keep the interviewer and give it to Liu Yinhuan and his wife for training.

As for the promised meat, it was fulfilled on the same day, which caused quite a stir among the immigrants.

Some brave people are also clamoring to learn acting so that they can eat meat.

Whenever such people appeared, Shi Jintang asked them to find Liu Yinhuan and his wife and perform according to the previous routine.

Before arriving at Walvis Bay, most of the 900 people on board the "Golden Mountain Town" had gone through an interview.

Liu Yinhuan and his wife also selected more than ten potential seedlings and brought them with them for training.

The scene of these new actors practicing their voices and postures with the children in the troupe was very refreshing to many immigrants on the ship.

When some students are punished because they cannot learn, the immigrants watching will laugh at them with schadenfreude.

I think if I learn it myself, I will definitely be better than this idiot.

But no one really dared to come forward and "self-recommended".

These guys who were watching the excitement did not know that from the moment they signed up for the interview, their respective fates had already changed.

……

When he got off the ship at the port, Shi Jintang discovered that the entire Walvis Bay Port was deserted, and all the officials who greeted him had sad faces.

Shi Jintang was somewhat disapproving of this, but he pretended to be solemn and hurriedly disembarked.

Jin Xiyue's eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she held Shi Jintang's arm obediently.

When the "Jinshan Town" arrived in Hong Kong, Ye Rong also found Jin Xiyue with swollen eyes, hoping that she could help him and give the sachet embroidered with "In memory of my parents" to Mr. Shi.

……

After Liu Yinhuan and his wife got off the boat, they heard from people next to them and found out that Mr. Shi's parents died in the famine.

The two couples were immediately dumbfounded. Mr. Shi didn't look like a dead relative in the Qing Dynasty.

The couple became more and more convinced that Mr. Shi was that kind of person with a profound sense of government.

Before they could sigh much, a white-faced scholar with a long face and narrow eyes came over and said to the couple: "You come with me.

Bring your students, their clothes, etc. We will spend a lot of time together in the future. My name is Ouyang Geng. "

Liu Yinhuan and his wife immediately saluted Ouyang Geng cautiously, "I haven't asked yet, where is Mr. Ouyang's official position and where is Mr. Shi going?"

"Master Shi has his own place to go. By the way, you can no longer be called 'Master Shi' after you get here.

When you see him in the future, you should call him Mr. Shi, or Boss Shi.

Don’t ever call me Master Shi again, remember that! "

"Ah, what's wrong with calling Master Shi? It's a taboo?"

Liu Yinhuan asked hesitantly.

"Well, this is indeed a taboo. Master Shi himself has stipulated that everyone is equal after arriving here.

Everyone only has different positions and no superiority or inferiority, so everyone usually calls each other by their positions or names. If you want to show respect, you can call someone Mr. So-and-so, or Miss So-and-so, Mrs. So-and-so, etc. "

Liu Yinhuan and his wife were immediately stunned. What on earth was Master Shi thinking?
  Why do you take the initiative to let people put down their concepts of inferiority and inferiority?
  The more confused they became, the more cautious they became, and they would abide by whatever Ouyang Geng said.

Next, Liu Yinhuan and his wife gradually learned that Master Shi not only had a large business, but also controlled a large territory.

Moreover, he has more than 100,000 people under his command.

This made the couple scared, and they followed the rules set by Master Shi more and more.

He is polite to everyone he meets, and he doesn't dare to put on airs for fear of being reported.

And their lives have become increasingly busy. They are either walking on the road or sleeping on the road every day.

Everywhere they go, they have to perform new plays and opera programs for the people in the settlement, and at the same time they have to constantly train new people.

Because of this Ouyang Geng, he was interviewing new people all the way.

If there are suitable talents, they will be recruited into the troupe for training.

Because of his age, Mr. Zhao Yinsheng said he couldn't bear the pain of running around.

Liu Yinhuan and his wife thought that Ouyang Geng would punish Master Zhao.

Who knew that Ouyang Geng actually sent him back to Anhai Town to recuperate.

Now the couple really believed in Master Shi's rules.

……

Liu Yinhuan and his wife are still constantly on the road, busy performing new plays wherever they go.

As they visited more settlements, their acting skills became more mature.

By the time the four-month tour was over, the entire troupe had completely transformed.

Their performance methods became more and more novel and sophisticated, gradually getting rid of the Beijing opera troupe style of the past, and became more and more like the drama troupes of later generations.

And wherever they go, they will be warmly welcomed by people everywhere.

Those enthusiastic people gave them things very generously.

For example, food, cigarettes and even military stamps are given directly.

The children in the troupe were very happy to receive the food.

Liu Yinhuan and his wife were greatly satisfied spiritually, and they were surrounded by people cheering.

They're in trouble!
  This kind of psychological satisfaction is more satisfying and addictive than giving gold, silver and jewelry.

……

After returning to Anhai Town and meeting the old master Zhao Yinsheng, Liu Yinhuan and his wife were surprised to find that the old master actually accepted a disciple.

And not just one or two, but more than ten.

These students are both male and female, but they are not very old.

In addition to teaching script writing, Old Master Zhao also taught details from various cultural classics, such as the characteristics of the costumes of each dynasty, and cultural customs.

In addition, not only Master Zhao Yinsheng, but also the musicians and prop masters of their troupe were assigned students.

There were more than a dozen students in front of each of them. The students all respected their teachers and bowed when they met.

The greetings are all "Hello, teacher, thank you for your hard work."

The craftsmen who had been bullied at random in the past were all dragged up.

All of them were dressed neatly and neatly, and were meticulous.

Students will come to serve you in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Let's put it this way, except for eating and going to the toilet, everything else is fine.

And when they teach students, they are also very serious, otherwise they will be punished.

There used to be a gong player who didn't teach students seriously and was just messing around.

After being reported by a student, he was severely punished by Ouyang Geng.

From then on, the craftsmen were very attentive to their apprentices.

And as long as they take care of their students, the students will be responsible for their future care.

……

Liu Yinhuan and his wife were led by Ouyang Geng to a brick house.

"This is your dormitory, and here is your couple's salary."

This was not the first time the couple heard the word "salary", and they understood it meant monthly money.

Liu Yinhuan took the envelope and squeezed it, knowing that there should be a lot of military coupons in it.

After Ouyang Geng left, the couple immediately sat down at the table, opened the envelope, counted it, and found that there were 480 yuan in military coupons inside.

There is also a piece of paper inside, which lists Liu Yinhuan and Cao Xiong. Each of them has a basic salary of 100 yuan in military coupons per month, and each of them has a business trip subsidy of 50 yuan.

After four months, their total salary was 1200 yuan in military coupons.

It's just that they spent ten thousand taels of silver from Master Shi before coming, so 6% of their wages need to be deducted as repayment.

This method of deduction will continue for ten years and will no longer be deducted after ten years.

After reading it, both of them felt that Mr. Shi was really kind. He sold himself as a slave in the Qing Dynasty and paid a hundred cents a year. That was enough after deducting 6% here.

And only 10 years will be deducted, so the salary after ten years will be full, which makes me feel relieved just thinking about it.

This house is not large, with only three rooms, a central hall and two side rooms.

Three rooms are not bad for two people. When the two couples were in the troupe, they always ate from the public house and only got angry at home when they had a rest.

Moreover, the prices here are not too expensive, and you don’t have to worry about housing. You can live there for free, so there is basically no money to spend.

And the troupe doesn't need them to worry much, Ouyang Geng has done it for them.

They just need to obey orders, and they won't be bullied when they get here.

When you travel to perform, everyone respects you. What could be better than this?
  　Please read, recommend, collect, and invest. Thanks!
  　　
  

(End of this chapter)