Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 847: The Long-lived and Powerful Emperors in History

Four episodes of "Zhu Lou" were released on the consumer channel on the first day.

After Zhou Mo and Liu Shishi finished watching it in one breath, it was already 11 o'clock in the evening.

Zhou Mo stretched and felt a little tired.

He glanced at Liu Shishi beside him, who also looked sleepy.

"Are you sleepy?"

"A little bit." Liu Shishi yawned: "I don't know if it's because I've been under a lot of mental pressure recently, but I tend to fall asleep easily at noon and at night."

"Maybe I ate too much pasta." Zhou Mo's eyes fell on the bag of snacks on the table.

Liu Shishi has recently stockpiled a lot of snacks such as small fried dough twists. There are various flavors, and they taste quite good and are very satisfying to eat.

In just a few hours, the two of them stuffed more than a pound of small fried dough twists into their mouths.

Liu Shishi looked at the snacks and felt reluctant to leave.

Actors are really strict about their diet, and their daily intake is strictly calculated. Especially during certain periods, the food they eat is simply devilish.

She just indulged herself a bit because she had no film contracts recently.

"I finally got a holiday, I don't want to continue to quit carbon monoxide poisoning."

"Then take a rest." Zhou Mo said casually

Things like losing weight.

Only when you eat enough and get enough sleep can you have the energy to lose weight.

Liu Shishi hesitated for a moment, shook her head, and then yawned again.

"No, I don't want to sleep yet."

Zhou Mo found this a little funny.

"My eyes are filled with tears. You should take a rest."

"As a night owl, staying up late is an activity that I have to do every day. The more I want to sleep, the more I enjoy staying up late."

Liu Shishi insisted shaking her head, took out her mobile phone from her pocket, and began to browse the discussions about "Zhu Lou" on various platforms.

It’s past eleven o’clock in the evening, and it’s time for netizens to have fun.

Countless night owls sat in front of the screen, constantly exchanging information about "Zhu Lou".

At present, there is only one topic that is discussed most:
Speculations about the subsequent plot.

“Before the second episode was broadcast, some viewers speculated that the conflict between the crown prince and the emperor was greater, and that the crown prince had a closer relationship with the emperor emeritus. Now this speculation has been overturned. The emperor obviously values ​​the crown prince more. The treatment of the crown prince was ostensibly a punishment, but in fact it allowed the crown prince’s power to increase significantly.

The emperor was a staunch supporter of the system of primogeniture, but there was only one primogeniture heir in his mind, and that was the former crown prince.

Now that the former crown prince is dead, his son is the heir under the system of primogeniture.

Therefore, the Emperor Retired directly ordered the Prince to be included in the six ministries."

The above content was posted by an old fan who has been following Zhou Mo's works for many years.

This fan started collecting relevant information since the first announcement of "Zhu Lou", including the information released by Shanhe Company, the character setting revealed by Zhou Mo during the live audition for "Zhu Lou", and the plot shown in several promotional videos of "Zhu Lou".

In the post sent by the fan, he strung all the information together and finally came to a conclusion:
"The Emperor Retired may be the mastermind behind the "Emperor's Lack of Virtue" incident in episode 3."

"On the surface, the matter of 'lack of moral conduct' was a joint effort by ministers to put pressure on the emperor.

But when both the left and right prime ministers and the Left Censor-in-Chief heard about this, there was obvious surprise on their faces.

What's more, as an honest official, the Left Censor-in-Chief supported the punishment of the governor. The only thing he did not support was the prince's direct order to kill.

Apart from these few people, the only person who could cause a stir in the entire capital was the retired emperor who lived in the deep palace, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures.

I guess the purpose of the emperor doing this is most likely to send the prince to the six ministries and suppress the prestige of the emperor and the prince."

After a long analysis with pictures and texts, Liu Shishi was soon fascinated. After reading it twice, she found that the content of the fan's speech was almost the same as the script of "Zhu Lou". The only mistake she made was:
The purpose of the retired emperor's action was not just to suppress the emperor and the crown prince, but also to involve the court officials, forcing conflicts between the emperor and the ministers.

When Zhou Mo was creating the role of the emperor emeritus, he referred to several famous and long-lived emperors in history.

For example, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and Emperor Kangxi of Qing.

These emperors had some things in common. When they were young, they were all talented and capable, and they were all very powerful in fighting. But when they were old, they all started to build large-scale projects and lived in extreme luxury. And they all had violent conflicts with their sons, which led to their sons being either deposed or killed directly.

Especially Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, who had a conflict with Crown Prince Liu Ju, and some of his actions after Liu Ju's death, were modified by Zhou Mo and written into the experience of the role of the retired emperor.

Liu Che and Liu Ju had a fierce conflict over the "Witchcraft Incident". The crown prince committed suicide after his rebellion failed. Emperor Wu of Han then ordered the killing of a group of the crown prince's supporters.

The reason is simple, which is "Who told you guys to support the prince?"

Genocide!

All of them will be exterminated!

But not long after, Liu Che found out that the "witchcraft" incident was completely fictitious and that he was "tricked and innocent."

At the same time, he missed the prince very much and often thought of the past when he was very close to Liu Ju and his son. So he built a "Si Zi Palace" to commemorate the prince and his two grandsons.

In addition, he ordered the execution of a group of ministers who had participated in the suppression of the prince.

The reason was still very simple, which was "Who asked you to participate in hunting down the prince and forcing him to death?"

Genocide!

All of them will be exterminated!

Among the ministers who were hacked to death by Liu Che, a typical example was a commander of the Northern Army named Ren An. When the prince rebelled, he received the prince's request to mobilize troops, but ultimately chose to keep his troops in place. He neither supported the prince nor participated in the pursuit of the prince afterwards. However, he was also ordered to be beheaded by Liu Che.

Why?

Liu Che said: "As a minister, you dared not move when the prince ordered you to mobilize the army? You are obviously a disloyal person, die!"

The ministers are so stubborn that they are stuck in both ends. No matter what they do, there will be problems.

The same is true of the emperor in "Red Tower".

When the prince started his rebellion, all he could think of was "You dare to rebel? You must die!"

But after so many years, I have grown old and started to feel nostalgic. Whenever I think of the former prince, all I can think of is the memory of my own son.

The stronger this nostalgia became, the more resentful and angry the emperor became towards all those who participated in the "Prince's Rebellion" except the Crown Prince!
As an emperor, the current emperor emeritus, like Emperor Wu of Han in the past, will never admit that he has problems.

As a father, I treat my child with nothing but love, how could I possibly harm him?
Since it's not me who's wrong, then it must be someone else who's wrong.

For example, ministers, for example, the commander of the imperial guards...

It was this group of people who caused him and his own son to kill each other. It was this group of people who caused him to be labeled as a filicide, which was recorded deeply in history books.

Yes.

The emperor cares not only about the death of the prince, but also about his own reputation after his death.

He had been wise and brave all his life, how could he ruin his reputation before his death!

The only difference between him and Liu Che is that the retired emperor is not like Liu Che who still holds great power and sits firmly on the throne of emperor.

He is now just an emperor, trapped in the deep palace. Although he still holds a certain amount of power in his hands, he is completely unable to kill anyone he wants.

Therefore, he needed to deal with some of the people from that time little by little and very carefully.
.
Liu Shishi sent the post from the old fan to Zhou Mo.

After Zhou Mo read it, his eyes lit up.

With just a little bit of leaked information, most of the character of the retired emperor has been guessed. This fan is very powerful.

He thought about it, liked the post with his own account, and left a message:

"Thank you for your long-term attention. The content speculated in the post is very close to the setting. Please send me the address in a private message. I will send you a peripheral gift later."

Zhou Mo has always insisted on interacting with fans in person.

Fans also know that he will appear in the comment section from time to time, so not long after the message was sent out, it was quickly liked and commented on by netizens.

"Zhou Mo is really capable now. He actually gave the OP a thumbs up."

"Here, let's draw a prize?"

"Is the Three Kingdoms animation finished? When will it be released? Give me a definite answer!"

"What do you mean by very close? Speak in full, or you'll lose Little Jiji!"

After Zhou Mo made his comment, he exchanged a few jokes with netizens. After the poster sent him the address, he asked someone to send the gift over. Then he switched to the green bubble and watched the communication between the many actors in the "Zhu Lou" crew group.

Coincidentally, the crew group was also discussing the emperor at this moment.

However, the actors were not discussing the role of the emperor, but the actor who played the emperor, Mr. Li Xuejian.

In the first four episodes of "Red Mansion", the retired emperor did not appear in many occasions, only twice in total.

The first time was in the first episode. When introducing the characters, the emperor who lived in the deep palace and cultivated his body and mind was mentioned.

At this time, the emperor was chanting scriptures, and his expression looked very peaceful, just like a very kind old grandfather on the street. If you approach him, he might even smile and say to you, "Brother, have a piece of candy."

The second time was in the fourth episode, when the emperor ordered the prince to study in the East Palace and sent several princes to the six ministries. After that, the prince's orphan knelt in front of the Changning Palace, hoping to "serve the country". After begging for a long time, the emperor agreed to his request. This time, the emperor was not as calm as before, but was extremely majestic and powerful, with a look of majesty, like a tiger that had just woken up.

The two appearances, with a total duration of less than five minutes, left a strong contrast that left a deep impression on many viewers about the emperor.

Although he is old, his heart is young, he has a strong desire for power, and his eyes are like an eagle, making people dare not look him in the eye.

At this time, Huang Xiaoming posted a picture of Li Xuejian in the drama, in which he and the prince were sitting opposite each other, with the prince kneeling on the ground, and Li Xuejian himself looking at him with his eyes lowered, with warmth and indifference coexisting in his eyes, which looked full of contradictions and extremely complicated.

Huang Xiaoming: "I'm afraid I'll never be able to learn this look in my life."

Seeing this, Zhou Mo immediately added: "Brother Xiaoming, don't belittle yourself. It's obviously three lifetimes."

Behind the screen, Huang Xiaoming was still typing, but when he suddenly saw Zhou Mo's message, he was stunned for a moment.

No, I was building a relationship with my senior colleagues, why did you come out?

In addition to Huang Xiaoming, others also saw the news and started making fun of it in the group.

"Director Zhou, I think you're a little too harsh on Brother Xiaoming. He'll definitely learn it in three lifetimes."

"I think two lifetimes is enough."

"I am a fan of the leader, you are not allowed to say that about the leader!"

As messages were sent out one after another, the group was suddenly filled with laughter.

Under normal circumstances, if it were someone else of the same rank, no one would tease him like that.

But there is no problem with Huang Xiaoming. He has a really good temper. Not only does he not get angry when he hears others teasing him, he will even join in the fun.

After a while, Li Xuejian also sent a message.

"Xiaoming's acting is really good. I knew this young man was amazing when he was in The Bund. He will definitely surpass me in the future in a few lifetimes."

With just one sentence, Huang Xiaoming sent out several bowing emojis.

"Teacher Li, you are too polite. I am just a beginner in the field of training. I still have a long way to go."

At this time, Chen Baoguo suddenly asked:
"Director Zhou, will our play "Zhulou" be broadcast on TV in the future?"

Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows. Why did he suddenly ask about the TV station?

"We are still talking about Teacher Chen. What happened?"

Chen Baoguo: "It's nothing, just a few relatives and friends heard about our drama and wanted to watch it, but because they are older, they don't know how to log in to the network software to watch it, so they asked if they can watch this TV series on TV."

Zhou Mo suddenly realized that the channels for middle-aged and elderly people to watch TV dramas were indeed a problem, and with the development of Internet technology in the past two years, the problem has become more and more serious.

Internet TV just became popular a few years ago. Although some middle-aged and elderly people are unwilling to use this technology, they can at least stay on ordinary TV stations and watch what they want.

In the past two years, with the launch of various "boxes", some middle-aged and elderly people can no longer watch their original TV stations.

Because I don’t know how to change channels.

If you adjust it randomly, you may encounter some charging items and the fees may be deducted without you noticing.

Over time, these people simply stopped using television.

While Zhou Mo was thinking, several other actors followed Chen Baoguo and asked similar questions.

"Director Zhou, my elders at home have also asked similar questions. They definitely don't know how to use these software, and they are very resistant to learning how to use them. The possibility of persuading them to use the software is very low."

"My family's situation is similar. My elders are not completely unwilling to use online software, but the premise is that they are not allowed to operate it themselves. If I find it for them, they will watch it and watch it with gusto.

But if you let them look for it on their own, they can’t find it, and they don’t want to look for it, so they just stop looking after a while.”

Liu Shishi also saw the situation in the group at this time.

He added to Zhou Mo: "By the way, we can't let them know that they have to pay to watch this TV series, otherwise they won't want to watch it no matter what."

Zhou Mo smacked his lips, unable to think of how to deal with these things for a while.

In the past, Shanhe Company has not expanded the market for middle-aged and elderly people, largely because the costs are too high and the returns are too low.

It is nothing short of a fantasy to want to change the middle-aged and elderly groups and make them give up television and switch to using online software.

If a "pure version", "children's version" or "senior version" is developed, it is still unclear whether the target group can use it, and losses are basically inevitable.

"This is difficult~" Zhou Mo let out a sigh.

"It's difficult, so just don't do it."

"You are quite open-minded."

Liu Shishi rested her head on Zhou Mo's thigh and said casually, "What else can we do if we don't see it clearly? Some things don't necessarily need a solution.

My uncle used to be very angry about not being able to watch TV series a few years ago, but later he became addicted to Douyin and Manjiao. Now he watches short videos on them all day long and is so obsessed with them that he won’t watch TV series even if asked to, and says they are too boring. ”

Zhou Mo was comforted by Liu Shishi, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

It is true that more and more middle-aged and elderly people are watching short videos.

Especially when the film and television industry is in a downturn in the future and short dramas are on the rise, large numbers of middle-aged and elderly audiences will continue to spend money on short dramas like revenge consumption.

The efficiency of spending money is even better than that of some game players drawing cards.

Zhou Mo thought about it and felt that he couldn't be the only one troubled by this problem.

He found the names of several TV station managers in the green bubble and sent the questions to each of them one by one.

When it comes to the troubles faced by TV station operations, these talents should be the most nervous.

Regardless of whether they can discuss a solution in the future or not, Zhou Mo would feel comfortable as long as he pushed the intensity up on them and made them anxious together.

Liu Shishi watched Zhou Mo look for his name, sent a message to greet him, and after a few polite words, smoothly turned the topic to the operation of the TV station. She was not surprised at all.

This is the real Zhou Mo.

"You're really an animal for not letting me rest at night."

"I helped them find the problem, they should thank me." Zhou Mo said confidently.

Liu Shishi smiled and said, "Then why do I feel like you are gloating over other people's misfortune?"

Zhou Mo immediately shook his head.

"How could that be? I just feel sad to see that a TV station that was once so popular has started to think about its own livelihood in just ten years."

Liu Shishi said "Oh" and didn't believe what Zhou Mo said at all.

We all came from the era of television stations, and everyone has had the experience of being tormented by television stations.

Even Zhou Mo, or Shanhe Company, had conflicts with some TV stations before they became fully developed.

Many companies in the entertainment industry actually just look at the decline of TV stations with a joking attitude.

At this time, the time was already past midnight.

As the day came, the platform released episodes 5-8 of "Zhu Lou".

Liu Shishi looked at the four freshly released episodes of the TV series and hesitated for a long time, but still chose not to click to play.

Zhou Mo was a little curious when he saw this.

"Why don't you watch it?"

"It will take at least five hours to finish watching four episodes, and by then it will be almost dawn, so I won't do it. I have work tomorrow, so I'll watch it tonight."

Zhou Mo imitated Liu Shishi's tone an hour ago and teased:
"As a night owl..."

Liu Shishi's face changed, and she immediately turned off the TV and dragged Zhou Mo into the room.

"Come on, let's go back to the room to discuss something with you."

……

next morning.

It was already past twelve o'clock when Zhou Mo woke up.

Liu Shishi went out to work early in the morning, leaving him alone in the room.

After brunch, turn on your phone.

The assistant sent over several messages, all of which were about the first day's broadcast of "Zhu Lou".

After taking a quick look, Zhou Mo directly dialed his assistant's number.

"Hey, thank you for your hard work. Tell me the specific data."

"Okay, Director Zhou. So far, the total purchase volume of the first four episodes of Zhulou has exceeded 1.8 million. The purchase volume is expected to exceed 24 million within hours. In addition, the purchase volume of the first four episodes is not much different. The difference between the first and fourth episodes is only more than million."

Two hundred million!
Furthermore, purchases for the first four episodes were fairly evenly distributed, with only a slight decline.

Zhou Mo looked delighted.

It seems that his adjustment to the style of "Red Tower" was successful this time.

(End of this chapter)