The second year of Jianning, the fourth day of the first month.

At this time, the New Year had just passed, and whether it was officials in the court or scholars and common people, they were still at home or visiting relatives and friends.

Inside the Research and Manufacturing Division, Mo Shang led a group of Mo family disciples toward the papermaking workshop.

As soon as he entered the backyard where the paper was drying, Mo Shang's eyes lit up as he looked at the paper that had already taken shape and dried.

Mo Shang strode forward, took a sheet of paper that was one meter long and one meter wide, and examined it carefully.

"Great! That's wonderful!"

Looking at the clean, thick, and smooth paper in his hand, Mo Shang was also very excited.

"Which pool is this? How does it compare to the previous ones?"

Mo Shang looked excitedly at one of the disciples beside him.

The disciple respectfully replied, "Reporting to the supervisor, this is already the tenth batch, and the quality of the paper produced is exactly the same as the previous ones."

Mo Shang continued, "Hmm, how many days would it take to create ten pools? Have you calculated the costs?"

The disciple said, "From crushing, soaking, shaping and drying, it will take a total of seven days!"

In terms of cost, including consumables and labor, five thousand yuan should be enough for one batch!

Upon hearing his disciple's report, Mo Shang also began to silently calculate.

"One batch can produce ten pools, and ten pools can produce a total of five thousand sheets of raw paper. The cost of one sheet of such paper is only one qian..."

A moment later, Mo Shang was immediately excited.

"Quickly...cut all the paper into pieces and load it all onto the cart. I need to go to the palace to report the good news to His Majesty!!"

Mo Shang roared, and then hurriedly led his disciples and craftsmen to collect the raw paper and cut it.

Before long, Mo Shang led a dozen or so Mo family disciples, escorting two large carts loaded with paper, and the group excitedly headed towards the palace.

On the other side, Liu Hong summoned Chen Fan, Hu Guang, Yuan Feng, Cao Song, and Cai Yong to the Deyang Palace.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Liu Hong looked at everyone and said with a smile, "I have summoned you all here today to discuss the matter of establishing a 'Royal Opera House'!"

"The Royal Opera House?"

Upon hearing this unusual name, everyone was momentarily stunned.

Cao Song couldn't help but ask, "Is Your Majesty referring to that delegation?"

Liu Hong nodded. "That's right! I see that you gentlemen, scholars, and young people all enjoy it. Moreover, there are very few entertainment options in our Han Dynasty right now, so I plan to establish a theater specifically for performances so that people can enjoy them!"

Chen Fan chimed in, "Your Majesty is right. Our ministers and the people also need some forms of entertainment; we can't always be thinking about going to places of pleasure!"

Hearing the Emperor and the Grand Tutor's words, the others nodded in agreement.

Cao Song quickly added, "Your Majesty's idea is excellent. Singing and dancing are indeed very popular. Once the opera house is completed, the national treasury will have another source of income!"

"Does the Grand Minister of Agriculture mean that people should pay to watch it?"

Cai Yong, standing to the side, looked at Cao Song with a surprised expression. In his view, those were all promoting positive and encouraging things, so how could they be used to make money?

"Of course. How can we get people's attention if we don't make them spend money? If it's free, people will just have some fun. Only when they pay will they appreciate it properly, right?"

"Uh... what the Grand Minister of Agriculture said seems... seems to make a lot of sense!"

Cao Song's words left Cai Yong speechless for a moment, and he even felt that Cao Song was right.

As for Chen Fan, Hu Guang, and the others, they were already used to Cao Song's fallacies and heresies.

A Grand Minister of Agriculture who only thinks about making money does indeed save them a lot of trouble. Therefore, no matter how Cao Song messes things up, Chen Fan, Hu Guang, and others, like Liu Hong, always protect him.

Liu Hong then looked at Cao Song and Yuan Feng and said, "Since you all agree, then the construction of the 'Royal Opera House' will be handled by the Engineering College! As for the expenses... the Imperial Treasury and the National Treasury will each contribute half!"

"Your subject obeys!"

Yuan Feng and Cao Song responded respectfully. Cao Song was quite generous when it came to these profitable projects.

"Hehe~, as for the matter of how much to charge... does Your Majesty have any suggestions?"

Cao Song chuckled and rubbed his hands together as he looked at Liu Hong, who was filled with anticipation.

Liu Hong laughed and said, "I have only one requirement: everyone, whether they are high-ranking officials or ordinary scholars, must be respected. As for how much to charge, you can decide that yourself! I'll just take care of distributing the money..."

"I understand, I understand!"

Seeing that the emperor had no intention of interfering with the pricing, Cao Song was overjoyed. As long as he was in charge, he had plenty of ways to get those wealthy families to pay.

Then Liu Hong looked at Cai Yong and said with a smile, "Minister Cai, I have recently come up with a few novel performance ideas that I think are quite good. Therefore, I hope you can study them carefully and see if they are feasible!"

"Oh? I wonder what kind of novel form this is? Please enlighten me, Your Majesty!"

Not only Cai Yong, but also Chen Fan and others looked at Liu Hong with curiosity.

"I think it would be appropriate to present biographies of famous officials, anecdotes of sages, myths, and folk tales in the form of dialogues or group performances?"

Liu Hong then gave a detailed account to the people present of later generations of storytelling, drama, opera, and other forms of performance.

Everyone present listened with great interest; such diverse and engaging performances were indeed very appealing.

Cai Yong exclaimed in admiration, "Your Majesty's idea is brilliant! These different forms of expression are more likely to pique people's interest, leading them to learn more... I believe it is truly feasible!"

"That's good. After you return, Cai Qing, you can organize some well-known masters and students from the Imperial Academy to conduct rehearsals. If it's feasible, a portion of the opera house's revenue will be used as their compensation..."

Liu Hong nodded and then handed the matter over to Cai Yong, also proposing a profit-sharing arrangement to incentivize creative enthusiasm.

Chen Fan and the others couldn't help but smile at each other. Ever since the emperor had some free time, he always came up with some ingenious ideas, which kept these old men somewhat busy.

Fortunately, although these ingenious ideas were related to eating, drinking, and having fun, they were generally helpful both publicly and privately, so they didn't say much about them.

Just then, Zhang Rang, who was on duty outside the hall, rushed in looking hurried.

"Your Majesty, Marquis Moyang requests an audience outside the palace!"

"Oh? Please let him in!"

Upon hearing that Mo Shang had suddenly arrived, Liu Hong's expression shifted.

"promise!"

Zhang Rang accepted the order and quickly ran outside.

Then Liu Hong looked at Chen Fan and the others and said with a smile, "Hehe~, Mo Qing's sudden arrival this time must be because he brought something good again....!"

Chen Fan nodded happily, "Then we, your subjects, must see for ourselves!"

As they spoke, everyone in the hall turned to look outside at the same time.

Soon, led by Zhang Rang, Mo Shang entered the hall carrying a stack of clean white papers in both hands.