Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 716
Listening to opera is either in a teahouse, or in a church meeting, or when offering sacrifices to gods in temple fairs. People in the capital seldom think of going to a special place to listen to opera.

The operas of this era are all written by literati, and there are many allusions in the libretto, and a certain level of cultural accomplishment is required to understand them. However, the opera libretto performed by the Zhongjun Theater is all vernacular, just slightly changed for rhyme, no matter how serious it is. I don't know how to read, but as long as I know Mandarin, I can understand it.

Myths and stories, talented scholars and beautiful ladies, these are the main contents of operas in this era. Although the common people love to watch them, they are far from life and not moving. It is far less shocking than Dou Eyuan in Yuan Dynasty. It is a change from real events, something that everyone has heard about, but they don't know much about it in detail.

Sitting in one place, having tea and snacks, singing on the stage, and the people around are here to watch the show, not to drink tea and talk about things, this is another joy.

It is true that there are more tricks in restaurants and brothels, but they also cost more. In the theater, you don't need too much money to be happy for several hours or even a day.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, there were already a considerable number of well-to-do citizens in metropolises such as the capital, but they had no place for consumption and entertainment. The emergence of theaters just met their needs.

With these points, it is difficult for Zhongjun Theater not to prosper.

In fact, there are ordinary people who are willing to watch and like to watch. After three days of free performances in the Zhongjun Theater, the entire capital was a sensation. Scholars, officials and dignitaries all came to see the already famous "Prodigal Son" in the capital. How good-looking and pleasant is "Looking Back", not to mention these people, even the eunuchs from the palace came here in groups.

There are a lot of people coming, but there are only four performances every day, and each show only sells [-] seat signs and [-] station signs. There are really people who come here to line up before dawn, small people come here by themselves, Gaomen The big family and the rich and noble family let the servants line up to buy the brand.

But even so, there are too many monks and too little porridge, and some people still have to wait. There are too many powerful figures in the capital, and it is a fashion to listen to and sing operas, and it is a fashion to raise an opera troupe at home. To line up with the people.

So I was going to send someone to ask the troupe to come to the house to sing a hall. If it was really good, I would buy the troupe and sing it for myself.

I sent someone over to ask, but the troupe of Zhongjun Theater didn't come to the concert, they just sang in the theater. The soldier came over to inquire with a cold face, and when he went out to inquire in disgrace, the backer behind him turned out to be Wang Tong, and he didn't dare to say more, so he went back obediently.

The play "The Return of the Prodigal Son" has been sung for half a month, and more and more people come to listen to it and watch it. However, those troupes supported by wealthy families have also learned to be inseparable. I don't know which wealthy family is at the banquet. When entertaining guests, the performance of "The Prodigal Son's Return" was performed for the first time, and the singing skills and posture were naturally better than those of the Zhongjun Theater.

When everyone thought that the limelight of Zhongjun Theater was about to pass, they didn't expect that at the beginning of September, Zhongjun Theater would have a new play coming out. In addition to the two daily performances of "The Prodigal Son", a new play was added called " Saint King's Walk".

For this play, the theater has changed a lot from when it first opened. For example, there are private seats on the second floor, and there are bead curtains hanging down. Even if the people below look up, they can’t see who is sitting on the second floor. The audience has also changed. .

In the past, they were all ordinary people, but now there are more children from rich and noble families and eunuchs in the palace. Sitting on the first floor, applauding and cursing at the same time.

At the beginning of September, the play was called "The Journey of the Holy King". Understand the story of the son of the Shangshu colluding with the demons of the Sanyang Sect, the Shangshu who was greedy for ink and evil, and finally the emperor revealed his identity and justice was done.

The play was performed in the afternoon, and there were dozens of eunuchs who were free to watch in the venue. Whether it was true or not, everyone was delighted to see the story of the private visit of the big man in disguise. With a word of applause, copper coins and silver are sprinkled forward like throwing sand and stones.

But the face of the eunuch who watched the play changed. This kind of play is really outrageous. Seeing a young eunuch at the end, he was about to stand up and scold him. When he stood up, he was dragged down by an older eunuch beside him. .

"Old Zhou, what are you dragging me to do? If you don't shout anymore, you're going to make a fuss. We won't be able to get rid of it from now on!"

"Your eyes were eaten by dogs. When you came in, you didn't see Zhang Zhang of the Qianqing Palace waiting downstairs. Everyone saw it, but you are blind. Watch your play honestly!!"

Hearing this, the back of the eunuch who stood up immediately burst into cold sweat. Those who work as servants in the Qing Palace are almost the same as the servants of the Supervisor of Rites. They are all senior officials. That is the place where the emperor lives and handles political affairs. If you don't go to the theater, you wait downstairs instead. Could it be that there is one on the second floor?

Just as he was about to turn his head, he was grabbed again by the eunuch behind him, and cursed viciously:

"You don't want your head anymore, why don't you throw the scattered things in your purse on the stage and applaud!"

The bewildered eunuch finally realized it, quickly took off the purse at his waist, took out all the copper coins and scattered silver, and then threw them on the stage.

The second floor is facing the best location of the stage. Now the price of a show is one tael, and one day is five taels. Although there are exquisite snacks and good tea, the price is still astonishing, but even so, Everyone is vying for this position. Five taels of silver is a lot of money for a small family, but it is really nothing for a wealthy family.

But today, only one of the boxes on the second floor has guests, and among the guests, only one is sitting, and the rest are standing there. Among the people standing is the legendary backstage of this theater. Wang Tong.

The following play is coming to an end, everyone on the stage praises the emperor's sage, and makes decisions for the people. Because the plot is attractive, the lyrics and tunes are peaceful and easy to understand, and everyone sings along.

Although Emperor Wanli was looking at the stage intently, Zhang Cheng and Wang Tong standing next to him could see Emperor Wanli's beaming expression.

Of course, this Shengjun Xing is based on the story of Zhang Hongying being rescued by a group of people who clashed with Wang Shangshu's young master back then at the Tiger Mighty Martial Arts Hall. If the people from Dongchang hadn't arrived at that time, Emperor Wanli and Wang Tong would have eaten It's a big loss, but what is staged on the stage is the wise and powerful emperor.

The plot was familiar, and he praised himself for being useless. Why was Emperor Wanli unhappy? The curtain on the stage slowly fell. This is also one of the inventions of the theater.

The applause from the audience was constant, Emperor Wanli snorted a few times in the box, then clapped his palms together, and said with a smile:

"Xiao Liang, reward 100 taels of silver to those who sing opera."

Such fresh and wonderful plays are very attractive to adults, let alone Zhao Jinliang, who was also fascinated by watching him over there. It was Wang Tong who kicked him secretly to wake him up. He quickly agreed and hurriedly went downstairs.

"It's beautiful, it's beautiful, Wang Tong, why didn't you show me such a good thing earlier, I haven't seen 'The Prodigal Son Turns Back' before, I want to watch it again, there will be a new play in the future, you must know In the palace, I want to come here to see."

The emperor went out of the palace to listen to the opera. This news spread to the ears of other people, whether it is the queen mother or the civil servants, I am afraid that it will cause trouble. Zhang Cheng shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said:
"Long Live Lord, if you want to hear it, just let this team go to Xiyuan to sing, why go out of the palace."

Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said:
"Then it's boring. The food in the delicious restaurant is tasteless and tasteless, but the food in the delicious restaurant is delicious and sweet. This is not the case here. Listening to the applause from below, seeing the money being lost, I will be happy in my heart. If you call back , what is the meaning? Besides, how much money does this name cost once it comes out?

What he said was true, Zhang Cheng naturally couldn't say anything more, Emperor Wanli stared at the stage with the curtain drawn, and said with unsatisfactory meaning:
"It was one thing to read the notebook presented by Wang Tong at that time, but another thing to watch the play. By the way, Wang Tong, how is Zhang Hongying doing now?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Zhang Hongying is working with the Ma family."

The monarchs and ministers were just asking and answering at random, but because the content in the play brought back the past, after all, Emperor Wanli could not stay outside for too long. The carriage was already prepared outside, and after the guests in the theater dispersed, Wang Tong and Zhang Cheng sent Emperor Wanli to the carriage, but Zhang Cheng did not accompany him. Instead, he walked a few steps slowly and said to Wang Tong with a smile:
"When are you leaving?"

"Four days later, you will know about Zonglu's affairs by looking at the files of the various yamen in the capital, and you will have less energy to spend on it when you go there."

Wang Tong replied respectfully, and Zhang Cheng nodded indifferently. For some reason, Wang Tong felt that Zhang Cheng's smile was a bit strange. It was not as dignified as before, but looked like an old lady. , smiled and said:
"Wang Tong, are you 21 years old this year!?"

"20 is old."

"You're not young anymore. When many people were your age, their children ran around all over the place. You haven't married yet. What girl do you like?"

Hearing Zhang Cheng's question, Wang Tong couldn't help but stumbled. He had always put the matter of starting a family on the back of his mind. He was busy with affairs, and sometimes he couldn't take care of it, but he didn't expect Zhang Cheng to bring it up today.

".not yet."

"How about our family being a matchmaker for you?"

(End of this chapter)