Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 166 New Dragon and Phoenix Play

East wing.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the four people around the octagonal table began to chat about specific topics, and what everyone was most interested in at the moment was naturally Chen Daoming's experiences in the United States.

"Hey~"

Chen Daoming took a sip of his drink and said with some difficulty, "The United States is certainly very developed, but Florida is a place... well, it's very free. The first time I went to Miami, I saw a middle-aged man wearing only a bra dancing his thighs in the middle of the road."

Just thinking about this scene is enough to make my eyes water.

"These Americans are just too..."

Zhang Guoli said speechlessly, "Isn't anyone going to take care of this kind of thing?"

Chen Daoming shook his head and said, "I don't know, but the passersby all seemed to take it all in stride."

"That's actually normal."

Zhang Yan knew the reason and put down the sesame cake in his hand, saying: "Twenty years ago, in order to overthrow the Cuban regime, the Americans unilaterally implemented a border opening policy for Cuba. Any Cuban could get a green card as long as they lived in the United States for a year."

When Fidel Castro of Cuba saw this opportunity, he sent all the country's hardened criminals and mentally ill people to Florida, the closest country to Cuba—which is why Florida has a particularly high number of mentally ill people, mainly concentrated in urban areas.

"Yeah!"

Zhang Guoli suddenly realized, "I remember this. The newspapers even discussed it at the time: was it appropriate to send our country's mentally ill people to a capitalist country in dire straits?"

Feng Gong spat out a bone and laughed, "If you're asking me, we should do the same thing."

“They’ve already plugged that hole.” Zhang Yan shook his head and said, “I think we should also learn from the experience and lessons of the United States and make our immigration management more thorough.”

Otherwise, once our country becomes wealthy, there will definitely be people who want to stay illegally in the country. When that happens, they'll tear up their passports, and we won't even have a destination to deport them to.

Although Zhang Yan's words seemed plausible, Chen Daoming and the others thought he was worrying unnecessarily. They argued that the current wave of immigration from highly educated, middle-class families was still not under control, so why was he already thinking about the problem of foreigners staying illegally in China?

After we move past that topic...

Chen Daoming then inquired about the advertising shoot. Among those present, Zhang Yan and Zhang Guoli had both shot commercials before, but one only offered suggestions while the other did everything himself.

"Brother Chen."

Zhang Yan asked in bewilderment, "Do you even need to ask us? You've filmed quite a few commercials before, haven't you? Didn't you endorse Xiali?"

"They are not the same thing."

Chen Daoming explained, "My wife has resigned completely. She's going to join a Sino-foreign joint venture advertising company—and the position they're offering isn't low; it's something like 'art director.'"

I was thinking that I shouldn't just sit there and do nothing, taking their salary without producing any results, so I came to you guys to ask around first.

No wonder he, who always prefers quiet, took the initiative to suggest getting together; it turns out it was for this reason.

However, Zhang Yan felt that Chen Daoming was worrying unnecessarily. The biggest reason why advertising companies valued Du Xian was definitely because of Du Xian's connections at CCTV.

Her biggest task as art director is probably to act as a middleman.

However, Zhang Yan did not reveal the truth in front of everyone. Instead, he shared his experience with Zhang Guoli, and Zhang Guoli even volunteered to take on the job, guaranteeing quality and quantity.

"Actually, I've been feeling really lost lately."

After recommending himself, Zhang Guoli couldn't help but sigh, "Acting in TV dramas, shooting skits, shooting music videos, shooting commercials, guest hosting—some people even wanted to recruit me to run training classes, as if I could do anything, but it also seems...sigh!"

Chen Daoming nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, I've received a lot of offers for TV dramas this year, but none of them have met my expectations."

This is a bit like Versailles.

However, Chen Daoming was indeed quite picky about scripts. While saying this, he kept looking at Zhang Yan, clearly hoping that Zhang Yan could come up with another script similar to "Tianjin Wei". "Zhang Yan, why don't you write a script about catching corrupt officials?"

Feng Gong said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "The most memorable punchline in our crosstalk is the phrase 'catch them and kill them,' which shows how much the common people hate this kind of thing."

Inspired, Zhang Guoli followed up, "Have you read Zheng Shaoqiu's 'The Humorous History of Emperor Qianlong'? I think this format is quite good. It can use the past to satirize the present without offending people unnecessarily. Zhang Yan, didn't you start by writing a historical novel?"

"The Legend of Emperor Qianlong" premiered in Taiwan in May 1991 and was not broadcast in mainland China until the second half of 1992. Three sequels were subsequently filmed.

To put it simply, it's about the emperor going incognito, pretending to be weak while secretly investigating cases and arresting corrupt officials, and incidentally taking all sorts of beautiful women into the palace as concubines.

Zhang Guoli's later famous works, the "Kangxi's Private Visits" series, almost copied this formula, although the plot was more down-to-earth and not as exaggerated as "The Emperor Qianlong's Adventures".

"I write time-travel novels."

Zhang Yan tapped his temple and said, "But now that you mention it, I suddenly have an idea. Perhaps we could adapt 'The Emperor and the Phoenix' into a time-travel drama."

"Playing with dragons and phoenixes?"

Feng Gong, being from the performing arts world, was the first to react: "You mean the story of Emperor Zhengde and Li Fengjie?"

"The Emperor's Visit to the Palace" is a classic Peking Opera and Huangmei Opera play. It tells the story of Emperor Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao, who secretly travels to Datong and meets Li Fengjie, a tavern girl. After teasing her, he takes her back to the palace and makes her a concubine.

This is somewhat similar to "The Emperor Qianlong's Adventures".

but……

"What do you mean by changing it to a time-travel drama?"

"It's very simple."

Zhang Yan said, "Let's write about a young girl named Li Fengjie who travels back in time to the Zhengde era. Because of her strange clothes and abnormal behavior, she is surrounded by onlookers. Fortunately, Emperor Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao, comes to her rescue."

Because of their playful and optimistic personalities, Li Fengjie gradually developed feelings for Zhu Houzhao, but instinctively rejected the emperor's life of having three palaces and six courtyards.

So Zhu Houzhao vowed to love only her, and even built a Leopard House just for her, where he lived for a long time, neglecting the concubines in the palace.

The court officials therefore denounced Zhu Houzhao for neglecting his duties and also condemned Li Fengjie as a wicked woman who brought disaster to the country and the people.

Li Fengjie, after all, was born in the new China and grew up under the red flag. She couldn't stand such a bad reputation, so she simply revealed her identity to Zhu Houzhao and suggested that he focus on developing science and technology to avoid the century of national humiliation that followed.

At the same time, with Zhu Houzhao's indulgence, she disguised herself as a man and entered the court as an official, trying to understand what the ministers were thinking and what it would take to be a dutiful and responsible emperor.

This part could include scenes where she pretends to be weak to deceive others, uses Qing Dynasty poetry to win over talented men and women, and punishes corrupt officials and evil eunuchs.

In addition, there will be some plot points where she and Zhengde use technology to try to intimidate officials in the court.

But after a series of dramatic events, Li Fengjie discovers that her disguised identity in the imperial court has become an irreconcilable enemy of the technological innovation she herself promoted.

The court officials firmly believed that the so-called technological inventions were mere whimsical tricks, and the military strengthening plan was nothing but a waste of resources and manpower. They also believed that Li Fengjie, the one who induced the emperor to do these things, was naturally a vixen like Bao Si and Daji.

Those who were truly willing to obey her commands were precisely the greedy and power-hungry eunuchs.

Li Fengjie was confused, but fortunately she became pregnant at this time. Zhengde happily announced that when she gave birth to a prince, he would make him the crown prince, and the couple would raise the child with the new ideas of the future.

With the combined efforts of father and son, they can surely lead the Ming Dynasty and China to a different future.

At this time, the Portuguese attempted to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty. Li Fengjie encouraged and promoted this matter, but was repeatedly obstructed by the ministers. Therefore, she suggested that the emperor receive the Portuguese envoys outside the capital.

During this southern tour, Li Fengjie was pushed into the water by a palace maid, causing her to miscarry. The culprit claimed that she acted entirely out of a sense of justice, not wanting the demoness and her illegitimate child to harm the court and the people, so she took action out of righteousness.

Li Fengjie and Zhu Houzhao, utterly despondent, returned to the capital and both fell ill, actually faking their deaths to escape. From then on, they lived a carefree life in the martial world, no longer concerning themselves with the intrigues of the court.

(End of this chapter)