Chapter 263 Public Opinion

In March, Zhao Jiu watched a variety show in Gyeongbokgung Palace with two concubines, Prime Minister Lu Haowen, eunuchs, and accompanying civil and military officials.

The name of Gyeongbokgung Palace was taken from the Book of Songs, which means "May the gentleman live for ten thousand years, and bring you great happiness." It also means "May you enjoy and sacrifice to the gods, and bring you great happiness," which is exactly the meaning of the main palace where the emperor resides.

In fact, East Asian culture has been passed down from generation to generation. Not only in Tokyo today, but also in the Forbidden City in another time and space, and even in Seoul, the capital of Korea later, there is Gyeongbokgung Palace.

As for zaju, it originated from the military drama similar to crosstalk in the Tang Dynasty, but it has made great progress. The sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou roles have officially appeared, and the form of drama has also greatly improved. There are not only warm-up segments before the main performance, but also miscellaneous activities such as encores and filling the free time after the main performance.

In fact, Kaifeng Prefecture has had its own exclusive drama "Mulian Saves His Mother" since a long time ago, promoted by Daxiangguo Temple. This Buddhist story must be performed for fifteen days starting from the Chinese Valentine's Day every year. Over time, it has become a tradition of Kaifeng Prefecture. When the day comes, the Kaifeng Prefecture government, Daxiangguo Temple, and surrounding residents will prepare together.

Of course, the believers' money is divided into 30% and 70%, and the rich man and the monks' money are returned in full.

Back in the present, it was quite common for Emperor Zhao and his close ministers to watch plays in the palace... One must know that in this day and age, dramas, military plays, and even storytelling were extremely common forms of entertainment, even more popular than singing and dancing. There was absolutely no such thing as ordinary people could watch and listen to them, but the palace could not.

In fact, as Bianjing increasingly regained its former vitality, the popularity of these forms of entertainment far exceeded Zhao Jiu's imagination. Rich families' gatherings and banquets, ordinary people's associations and meetings, including Buddhist and Taoist activities, would invite professionals to perform.

The palace was naturally no exception.

Even the palace was isolated from the outside world, and the nobles in the harem could not go out for activities. Instead, these storytelling and drama became their main form of entertainment... For example, a certain queen mother loved to listen to storytelling, and she listened to it almost every day. After the storyteller finished telling all the popular stories such as the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West, she had no choice but to temporarily incorporate current affairs into the story for daily updates. As a result, one day, after pointing to the court's recruitment, she made up a story on the spot, and the effect was unexpectedly good. The queen mother liked it very much, and especially liked the character in the story who urged the protagonist to surrender to the court. So there was no need for the queen mother to say anything, and the emperor who noticed it nearby went back and upgraded the real person of that character by three levels!

This is true...if Zhao Jiu doesn’t climb out of the well!

However, the reason why storytelling, military plays, and variety shows were so popular in the palace was, after all, because of their low cost and another very important function.

"After talking for so long, I gave you the money for two rings, but you only bought one?"

At the beginning of the Flame section, it was just a play by a soldier. The soldier asked Cangtou to buy earrings as a gift for his husband's daughter. Unfortunately, the soldier was stingy and only gave one and a half dollars, but he wanted to buy a pair of rings. So the two sides had a funny argument because of whether to buy one ring or two rings, and whether to give money for one ring or two rings. In the end, Cangtou finally bought the ring, but it was just one ring in the end.

"Let the military officer know that this is one ring, but also two rings..."

“How can it be one ring and two rings at the same time?”

"Master, look at this ring. It's called the Holy Ear Ring. Isn't it two rings..."

"Ah, my... how can it be so absurd? Even if it is called the Two Sacred Rings, what does it matter? My husband's daughter has two ears, and one ring cannot be taken apart, so how can she wear it?"

"Master, listen to me. If it really doesn't work, just let the young lady of the husband's family wear the ring behind her head."

"Well, let me put the two sacred rings behind my mind for the time being..."

The joke had not yet been finished. As early as when the homophonic pun of "Er Sheng Huan" came out, the audience was already silent. When they heard the last punchline, there was even more silence. But Emperor Zhao just sat there and ignored it, without making a sound at all.

The two imperial concubines kept silent, Prime Minister Lu just looked up at the sky, and several civil and military officials who were with him looked at each other, and then made preparations... Not to deal with the two actors who had the audacity to mock Emperor Zhao for being unfilial, but to be ready to advise Emperor Zhao at any time.

The reason is very simple. Since the military drama appeared in the Tang Dynasty, it has gone through the Five Dynasties and the confrontation between Liao and Song, and has formed a unique cultural atmosphere between the court... The actors in the court have a nickname, called "Wuguo Chong", which means that they are of low status and are innocent no matter how they are satirized.

For example, Song Huizong, the Emperor Taishang Daojun in the Two Sacred Rings...once encountered a commoner writing a letter on the Xuande Tower, in which he was accused of extravagance and abuse of power. As a result, this commoner was sentenced to death by burning with fire for the crime of "criticizing the imperial carriage" under the personal order of the Emperor Taishang Daojun, using the most cruel means to torture and execute him in order to deter relevant people. Moreover, he was always merciless in his denunciation of the literati who wrote to him... However, even such a person was given the title of "Na Yan" when faced with the ridicule of the actors.

For example, Emperor Xingzong of Liao, who was famous for "killing innocent people", was once mocked by an actor in person for being defeated by the Western Xia. He was furious for a while, but he still pardoned him under the advice of Crown Prince Yelu Hongji.

In fact, in the entire history of the two Song dynasties, there was only one example of an actor being killed for mocking current affairs. That was decades later in another time and space, when Qin Hui killed the relevant actors the next day because they were mocked in person for negotiating peace.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!