I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 917: It’s over. Kunqu Opera will be wiped out.

Yu Qiaolian and Dong Li in the audience looked at each other. Like the other opera workers present, they felt dizzy.

Wen clique?

There is also this word.

Director Zhang is truly worthy of being a high-ranking official. He actually made up a word off the cuff and it sounds so impressive.

I just don't quite understand what it means.

Tang Xianzu, who was sitting on the other side, exchanged glances with his colleagues in surprise.

Wen clique?

They were all educated people and immediately recognized the destructive power of this word.

Monopolizing resources and manipulating culture, these are serious crimes. Who is Director Zhang talking about?
Most people were still confused, but Tang Xianzu had a vague idea who it was.

Although he broke off his relationship with the Wang Shizhen brother and parted ways with the people at the Chinese Opera Research Institute, his talent was still valued by some people.

In particular, after reading many of Li Zhi's works, he admired him so much that he went to Nanjing to become his disciple and became a student of Li's school.

Because of this relationship, Tang Xianzu soon got to know another group.

Tu Long and Wang Daokun were also famous scholars in the southeast. They also loved opera, had great literary talent, and wrote many opera scripts.

They were good friends with the Wang brothers and were part of the Chinese Opera Research Institute. They often communicated with each other and worked on literary creation together.

However, after the Wanli period, rifts began to appear between their political ideas and those of the Wang brothers.

In particular, Wang Daokun, Tu Long and others had increasingly smooth careers and held higher and higher official positions.

The Wang brothers were trapped in Suzhou and Kunshan. No matter how famous they were among the scholars, they could not get any official position.

The Wang brothers, who were unable to realize their ambitions, became increasingly radical in their thinking and their criticisms of current state affairs became increasingly sharp.

But for Wang Daokun, Tu Long and others, the Wang brothers' criticisms were based on ignorance of the situation, generalizations, and the whims of scholars. Some were even fabricated and specious.

However, the Wang brothers believed that Wang Daokun and others had been in officialdom for too long and had lost the integrity and character of scholars.

So the two sides drifted further and further apart, but Mingli did not break up and they remained good friends.

Everyone knew secretly that the two sides had been at loggerheads for a long time.

At the invitation of Tu Long, Tang Xianzu waited in Nanjing for a while and then took a train to Beijing with Zhejiang Governor Wang Daokun.

This train was quite impressive. In addition to Wang Daokun, there were also the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Liu Yingjie, and the Governor of Jinghai, Zhang Xueyan.

After setting out from Pukou, he met Jiangsu Governor Cai Maochun in Xuzhou and Shandong Governor Fang Fengshi in Jinan along the way.

These governors and governors had also heard of Tang Xianzu's reputation and were very polite to him.

The journey took a day and a night. From the casual conversations of the governors and governors-general, the clever Tang Xianzu also guessed a lot of inside information.

I listened to Zhang Siwei's words again at the meeting today. Compared with his previous vague words, many things became very clear.

Zhang Siwei continued speaking.

"These literary elites, who claim to be celebrities and well-read in classics, wantonly criticize current politics. They write articles for newspapers or write books for publication.

Between the lines, it seems as if all the people in the world are mediocre and muddy villains, and he is the only gentleman who is sober while everyone else is drunk!
It seemed as if everyone in the world was a fool and he was the only one who could turn the tide.

There were few new policies in the world that he liked.

In this peaceful and prosperous era, it seems nothing special to him!

He spoke eloquently, discussing all the affairs in the world and scolding all the people in the world, as if what he said was justice.

Is he God, or is he a saint? Whoever he says is bad is bad, and whoever he says is good is good.

absurd!

In the Ming Dynasty, the only person who holds the final say is the emperor! "

After hearing this, even artists like Yu Qiaolian and Dong Li who don’t understand politics could sense the tension in the words.

Officials including Pan Sheng and Yang Lingde determined that the people Zhang Siwei sacrificed this time were the Wang brothers.

They knew in their hearts that Wang Shizhen and Wang Shimao were not as bold as Zhang Siwei said.

On the contrary, in the early years of the Wanli period, when the emperor was cleaning up the Jiangnan family group headed by the Songjiang Xu family, the Wang Shizhen brothers "rebelled" in time, stood on the side of the emperor and the court, helped to wave flags and cheer, and win the hearts of the people.

After the imperial court swept through many Jiangnan aristocratic families and thousands of famous scholars, he helped to gather and appease most of the scholars, and made outstanding contributions to stabilizing the hearts of the people in Jiangnan.

During those years, Zhang Siwei, who was the director of the Spiritual and Cultural Construction Committee, lived in Jiangnan for a period of time. At that time, he called Fengzhou Gong and Ji Meixiong very affectionately.

Now they turn against each other without any hesitation.

However, Pan Sheng and others also knew that Wang Shizhen and his brothers had indeed acted a little out of line in recent years.

But why don’t the Emperor and the court use you? Don’t you two brothers have any idea?
What else can you do besides slander and defame or sing praises?
In this case, the Emperor and the court have bestowed such great honors on you, posthumously honoring our father and ancestors, and commending you two brothers on many occasions in public.

We will elect you as vice-presidents and directors of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and presidents and directors of the Literature Association, and promote you to become leaders of the world's literary world.

You should just live a happy and carefree life in Suzhou. Why do you have to be dissatisfied and want to seek an official rank and enjoy the treatment of a retired official, and even hope for an official rank of the third or fourth grade?

joke!

Officials of the third or fourth rank are already at the level of provincial governor or right councilor of the provincial administration. After retirement, if they are constitutional officials, they can stay in Beijing, but the rest must stay in the provincial capital.

If you two are to be promoted to higher ranks, you must stay in Yangzhou or Nanjing.

But what is the purpose of the emperor keeping you two brothers? It is to stabilize the hearts of the people in the Jiangnan area in Suzhou and attract the scholars there.

Do you hope the emperor will show leniency to you two brothers?
Are you kidding? Don't you know that the emperor is the most disciplined? He sets an example for the rules and laws, and they must be strictly followed. No one can save face.

Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun were ill and hoped to return home.

After a lifetime of wandering around, I hope to die in my hometown.

But the emperor flatly refused. He would rather give Hu Zongxian the utmost honor after his death, let him be enshrined in the imperial temple, and send princes and nobles from the royal family to accompany Hu Zongxian's sons and nephews to carry the coffin back to Huizhou, rather than let Hu Zongxian go back.

Who are your two brothers' identities? Do you still want the emperor to make an exception for you?

After losing hope, Wang Shizhen and his brothers became resentful in recent years. They did not dare to point the finger at the emperor directly, but instead directed it at Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Xiang, with whom they were already very dissatisfied, as well as the Wanli New Deal.

He said a lot of weird things, although not as serious as what Zhang Siwei said, but it was a handle after all. Zhang Siwei caught it and exaggerated it to the utmost, preparing to stir up a big storm.

Thinking of this, Pan Sheng couldn't help but sigh in his heart, Wang Yuanmei, why do you have to do this? You have a good life but you have to feel that your talent is wasted.

Putting aside other things, you were very sincere to Zhang Siwei, but you were stabbed in the back. If the emperor really grants you an official position and lets you enter the officialdom with such political wisdom, it would not be a commendation for you, but a harm to you.

When everyone thought that Zhang Siwei was going to point out the names of the Wen clique and criticize them, he changed the subject.

“The Emperor made this very clear at the opening ceremony of the Second Ming Literature and Art Workers Conference.

Only by creating literary and artistic works that are popular with the public can they have lasting life.

Opera should be like this too.”

Zhang Siwei glanced at the faces of many opera workers in the audience, causing them to feel agitated and a little uneasy.

“Everyone present here knows better than I do how opera originated.

Miscellaneous tunes, local folk songs, Buddhist and folk songs were popular in the countryside and in the towns. Fishermen, woodcutters, farmers, scholars, peddlers and hawkers all liked to listen to them.

It is with the love of the people that various types of operas thrive.

Kunqu Opera, Hui Opera, Huangmei Opera, Shu Opera, Han Opera, Nanyin, Yiyang Opera, Qingyang Opera, Haiyan Opera, Yue Opera, Henan Gaoqiang Opera, Xiqin Opera
No way.

Some operas are still trying to overcome local limitations, find common characteristics of literary and artistic works, and go global from local areas. Kunqu Opera, Hui Opera, Huangmei Opera, and Xiqin Opera have done very well, going beyond their respective origins, crossing the Yangtze River to Beijing, and influencing the entire Ming Dynasty. "

The performers of the opera genres that were named couldn't help but sit up straight, their faces filled with glory.

At the end of Zhang Siwei's speech, only Kunqu Opera, Hui Opera, Huangmei Opera and Western Qinqiang, as well as people related to Kunqu Opera and Hui Opera, became even more proud. They looked around with pride shining in their eyes.

Zhang Siwei changed the subject again, "Kunqu Opera originated from a famous family. It was originally a well-known opera in the southeast of the Three Wus and loved by everyone. The Romance of the West Chamber tells the story of love between men and women in the world.

"The Peony Pavilion" tells the story of what love is in this world, and it makes people commit to each other for life and death.

It comes from one's nature and is in line with human ethics, which is why the masses are so crazy about it."

All the people related to Kunqu Opera raised their heads, with a feeling of being wronged to sit with you.

“But in recent years, Kunqu opera has adopted difficult and obscure language in order to be so-called elegant.

Every story must have a source; every word must have a rhyme.

The writing is rich in ornate language and full of quotations from classics.

Or go back to the old sour path of talented men and beautiful women.

He thought he was writing about true love in the world, but in fact it was all business.

The man wants the woman's money and beauty, while the woman wants the man's career. They seem to be in love, but in fact they are a pair of bastards.

Or they use the past to criticize the present, or they use indirect criticism to criticize others. They are full of eloquence, as if they are shouting for the people and upholding justice.

In fact, it is just scratching the surface and hiding evil intentions. It is fake to speak for the people, and it is real to sell contraband goods! "

Zhang Siwei is indeed a good speaker, and his words are extremely sharp and to the point.

People related to Kunqu Opera turned pale with anger and lowered their heads, not daring to see anyone.

How come the wind direction changes so suddenly?

“Kunqu opera has become famous and elegant, but it has become a plaything for a few people, and then a group of ignorant people follow suit and flatter, thinking that by watching a few Kunqu operas, they can transcend the ordinary and become elegant people.

shit!"

Zhang Siwei rarely used a "dirty word".

"Your Kunqu opera is divorced from the masses and has become a canary kept by certain people. It looks glamorous, but in fact it is of no use at all.

why?
Because you have violated the emperor's expectations for opera.

You guys are so good that you even think the masses are vulgar.

Such opera is not worthy of being included in the Ming Dynasty opera genres.

Because the official opera genres of the Ming Dynasty were all selected by the people, and it was the people who liked and loved them and raised them to a high status.

Then it also sincerely praises the era, praises the Ming Dynasty, and makes great contributions to the construction of the Ming Dynasty and the rich and colorful cultural and entertainment life of the people.

This kind of drama is worthy of being included in the official drama category, not those canaries!"

The people involved in Kunqu Opera looked pale and shaky.

Some were so scared that they were shaking all over.

Is the purpose of today's meeting to catch us all in one fell swoop?

Other practitioners of Hui opera, Yue opera and other operas were also nervous, feeling a bit grieving over the loss of their loved ones.

Pan Sheng and Yang Lingde looked at the Kunqu opera performers in the audience, saw what they were thinking, and laughed secretly in their hearts.

People like you, big names, famous actors, and artistic masters, are nothing but small shrimps in front of power.

Is it worth Zhang Siwei making such a fuss?

You are just the matchmaker and the medicine inducer. Zhang Siwei is not going to deal with you!

Sure enough, Zhang Siwei took two sips of water from the teacup, moistened his throat, and continued speaking.

"Why has Kunqu Opera become like this? Because it has become a tool for certain literary cliques!"

(End of this chapter)