The eldest grandson of Emperor Ming Dynasty!

pear orchard.

This is the largest theater in Nanjing and the most impressive one.

Just being able to occupy nearly twenty acres of land in the inner city area already shows its strength.

You must know that the inner city area of ​​Nanjing, that is, the area near Zhengyang Square and closest to the Imperial Palace, is the most expensive place in the world.

Here, perhaps even a toilet is a place that ordinary people may not be able to afford in their lifetime.

Having money is one thing, being able to buy is another.

Twenty acres of land, no one knows how many dignitaries are involved behind it.

Now here in the capital, basically the people have escaped from the poor class, and it can be said that every household is a wealthy family.

The streets are clean and tidy, and there are no beggars wandering around.

Entering the capital itself requires relevant documents. After all, the current population of the capital is already showing an explosive trend, and the court has no choice but to impose such restrictions.

Today's capital is not only the political center of the Ming Dynasty, but also the business center of the entire Asia.

Here, yellow hair and blue eyes are not too common.

Foreigners speaking broken Chinese can be seen everywhere on the streets.

When the material foundation is satisfied, spiritual food is naturally needed more.

Novels are a very popular literature and art nowadays, and ordinary people almost like to go to teahouses to listen to storytelling whenever they have nothing to do.

And what is more elegant is nothing more than opera.

In fact, there is not much difference between the two, except that there is usually only one storyteller, the cost is low, the threshold is slightly lower, and it is easy to learn.

This has led many people to send their children to be apprentice storytellers, not to mention rich and powerful, but it is no problem to have a full meal.

Generally, storytellers who are resident in teahouses have food and accommodation in the teahouse.

But opera is different.

Firstly, the threshold is very high. It involves literature, music, dance, art, martial arts, acrobatics and performing arts, with more than 360 categories.

Secondly, costumes and props are relatively expensive nowadays.

Among them are Peking Opera, Yue Opera, Huangmei Opera, Ping Opera, Henan Opera and many other categories.

Personally, he has a variety of roles including Shengdan, Jingmochou.

Compared with simply listening to a book, opera obviously has more visual impact.

Especially for the upper class, with the rapid prosperity of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, many families in the capital took advantage of the wind of the times and suddenly took off.

Suddenly becoming rich and wealthy, of course, it feels like a nouveau riche.

Therefore, it is very important to be arty, change your identity, and get rid of the vulgarity.

After all, in the eyes of many people, if you want to make friends with the upper class, listening to music and watching theater together is undoubtedly the best way.

And Liyuan came out as the times require.

Those who can enter the opera garden are all high-ranking officials, and the hundreds of tickets alone can block most people.

And ordinary tickets have a daily limit. If you are late, you will not have a chance to enter even if you pay.

There were too many people and it was too noisy, which would disturb the noble people watching the show inside.

The more you can't get it, the more you want it.

Many businessmen do not hesitate to buy scalper tickets in order to get in. Even if it is several percent more expensive, or even several times more expensive in some cases, it is still worth it.

Liyuan backyard.

There are countless martial arts students, painted faces, Qingyi, etc. coming and going here.

In the Liyuan, there are three theaters, one large and two small.

Ordinary actors can only go to the small theaters on the left and right, and only the big actors can perform in the big theater at the main entrance.

The Liyuan is not one opera troupe, but consists of dozens of large and small opera troupes.

To be precise, the Liyuan is more like a high-end platform for these theater troupes. The stewards of the Liyuan do not act, but are only responsible for the management.

Each of these dozens of opera troupes is extremely famous throughout the Ming Dynasty.

And entering Liyuan is equivalent to the highest honor for the theater troupe in the world.

During the holidays, you can also go to the palace to perform plays, but that is for His Majesty to see.

If you perform well, the reward is on the other hand. As long as you can get a compliment from His Majesty, it means you have become famous, and your worth will increase several times in the future.

Many of the management of the Liyuan were formerly from the Jiaofang Department, so it can be considered as part of the palace.

Zhu Ying had previously reformed the Jiaofang Division. Many criminal officials and their female relatives would not necessarily be recruited into the Jiaofang Division. The Jiaofang Division without its sources would naturally have to change.

That's right, the big boss behind the opera house actually has internal funds.

now.

In the backyard makeup room.

"Sister Xiaoyu is getting more and more beautiful, and I don't know which young master she will take advantage of in the end."

The maid who made up Xiaoyu couldn't help sighing when she saw her beautiful face in the glazed mirror.

Xiaoyu was obviously used to it. She also looked at herself in the glass mirror and said helplessly: "What kind of good destination can I and other people from Leji have? Even if I marry one of those wealthy families, I will be nothing more than a concubine." , who would marry Yi Leji as his official wife?"

"But Xiaoyu, you are different. With this skill in makeup, it is not difficult to find an ordinary family. You can also make some money for the family. Naturally, your husband's family will value you and take pity on you."

"Beauty is a curse, and being good-looking is also a sin."

Xiao Yu was a little confused and asked, "If that's the case, can't Sister Xiaoyu find someone who is well-matched to marry? If Sister Xiaoyu is willing to condescend, I am afraid that the number of people who come to propose marriage in the capital city will be queued from Zhengyang Square to Zhengyang Square. Go to Yangmen."

Xiaoyu didn't answer this question, just shook his head slightly.

Xiaoyu is still young, so she doesn't want to explain so much. When she grows up, she will naturally understand.

At this time, someone knocked on the door.

"Xiaoyu, you are ready. The steward from the front is here to urge you to prepare for the Moon Worship Pavilion play. An adult has called the names."

Xiaoyu said hello, and the people outside the door walked away.

She is considered a red card in this theater. She has a separate dressing room and a makeup maid.

When Xiaoyu heard this, she said with a bit of complaint: "Isn't it already arranged for Pipa Records? How could it be changed to the Moon Worship Pavilion?"

The makeup of the characters in each script is different, which means that if the makeup just turned white, you have to remove it and start over again.

Xiaoyu is open-minded: "Hurry up, the class leader will say it himself. It can be seen that the adult who comes this time has a high position and can directly order the drama. Isn't it so simple? If it is evil, I am afraid that you and I will not be able to please you." .”

Xiao Yu heard this, and quickly started to remove her makeup.

Zhu Ying sat in the private room in the center of the theater.

This is the best place to watch a show, facing the central stage.

Standing on the left and right behind Zhu Ying are Song Zhong and Guo Zhong.

Zhu Ying actually doesn't like going to the theater very much. For someone who has been influenced by the prosperous entertainment of later generations, opera is a bit boring.

Therefore, after the opera house was built, Zhu Ying casually said a few words that he had never been there.

How could it be possible without Zhu Ying's nod to set aside twenty acres of land in the inner city of the capital to build a pear orchard.

These tricks in Liyuan were naturally arranged by Zhu Ying, and the people below would elaborate on them.

However, Zhu Ying only took [-]% of the Liyuan shares, and the rest was distributed to many nobles, chambers of commerce, etc.

Seventy percent of the shares were divided into hundreds of companies, and Zhu Yingna's [-]% was still the largest shareholder.

The reason why Liyuan is so popular is inseparable from these shareholders. They come here to enjoy special shareholder discounts and say that they are shareholders of Liyuan, which gives them a special face.

In addition to [-]% of the share income, Zhu Ying also collected the rent of the opera garden.

The land of this pear garden is in the name of internal funds.

Only a few top managers know these secrets, and most shareholders don't even know who is behind them.

"Song Zhong, go and ask how long it will take." Zhu Ying frowned slightly.

He has almost finished the pot of tea. The show hasn't started yet. It's just for freshness, but it will be boring after waiting for a long time.

"Yes, son."

After Song Zhong took the order, he turned and went downstairs.

There were several guards in brocade uniforms guarding the door, but no steward was seen.

Song Zhong directly ordered the guard in Jinyi: "Go and ask the steward here what's going on. He is so audacious that he dares to keep His Highness waiting for a long time. He wants to die." Song Zhong looked gloomy and shouted directly.

The Jin Yiwei who was guarding the door immediately clasped his fists and bowed, and ran quickly towards the backyard.

There were several guards guarding the entrance to the backyard.

Seeing someone bumping into someone, he immediately blocked the way and said politely: "Dear guests, this is the entrance to the backyard. If you want to listen to the show, please go to the front yard."

The leader of the Jin Yiwei is Shi Di from Qianhu who had been to Guangzhou with Zhu Ying before.

After hearing this, Shi Di stopped and took out his waist card.

"Jinyiwei is working on something. You and the others will immediately lead this thousand households to take care of things here and there. If you dare to slack off, you will be killed."

When the guard heard the name of Jinyiwei, he trembled with fright and said quickly: "Please come in, I will lead the way."

Shi Di snorted coldly: "If you walk faster, you will waste time. I have no choice but to let you go to the Jinyiwei Yamen."

When the guards heard this, they immediately started running.

There is a separate cabin in the backyard where the stewards are located.

When he reached the door, Shi Di kicked it open.

The steward inside was drinking tea. His hands shook in fright, and the hot tea spilled directly on his hands, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Who doesn't understand the rules like this, do you know where this is? This is the Pear Garden."

Swish!
As soon as the steward's words fell, he saw a bright light rising. When he came back to his senses, a bright knife was placed on his neck. The steward immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

"What is this strong man doing? Is he asking for money? I have it here, but you can't kill me."

The steward's voice was trembling.

He couldn't understand, this was a pear garden, and many dignitaries had to abide by the rules when they came, so how could such strong men appear.

Steve took back the knife, took out his waistband and slapped it on the table.

"I, Shi Di, a member of the Jinyi Guard Qianhu, would like to ask you why it has taken so long to come up with the play that my young master ordered."

"How dare you keep my young master waiting for so long? Do you, the manager, want to go to jail?"

Shi Di didn't have time to show off his authority. His Highness Taisun was still waiting, so he went straight to the point.

Only then did the manager realize that it was a certain big shot who had come to the backyard to cause trouble after waiting for a long time.

"Sir, this arrangement for the stage is the responsibility of the front yard manager. I have no control over the back yard."

"Sir, please bear with me a little. I will ask someone to inquire immediately."

The steward said tremblingly that this was a completely unforeseen disaster, and immediately turned his eyes to the guards behind him.

The guard also complained in his heart.

These gentlemen went straight to the backyard to find the steward. How could I lead them to the front yard to look for them?

Only then did Shi Di realize that he and others were looking in the wrong direction.

But it doesn't matter, as long as you can find someone to do it.

The steward bowed and asked the guards to quickly go to the front yard to inquire about the situation.

Several guards ran away.

Steve and others are waiting here.

Not long after, several guards came back panting.

"Sir, this is what happened. The young man ordered the Moon Worship Pavilion. Today's Moon Worship Pavilion performance was originally scheduled at the back, so the actors didn't even put on makeup. This temporary makeup change will take some time."

The guards knew that this person who came was really a big shot.

The thousands of Jinyi guards who serve as guards must be people from the palace, probably not some prince.

Ordinary officials watch whatever scene it is their turn to do, so they can't do anything at the last moment.

Shi Di knew the reason and took the people back to recover.

Zhu Ying heard Song Zhong's report in the private room and nodded immediately without paying much attention.

He didn't know it would be so troublesome.

When the steward came, he didn't say he wanted to change his makeup. He just took out a booklet and gave him some tips.

I have never seen any of these dramas, so I casually ordered Moon Worship Pavilion, purely because I was somewhat interested in the word "Moon Worship Pavilion".

Shi Di made such a fuss, and the theater suddenly became agitated.

The steward of the front yard was originally waiting downstairs. He felt that he had been waiting for too long, so he went to hurry up and missed Song Zhong coming downstairs.

Then the guard in the backyard over there ran over to ask, and then hurried back to explain.

Steve didn't give him a chance to go upstairs: "If the play can't start in just one stick of incense, you should know the consequences."

The steward of the front yard bowed quickly: "I understand, I understand, I'll go ahead and urge you."

The steward called the troupe leader: "If this play doesn't get the adults' favor today, your Huang team will probably have to go to jail, not to mention being kicked out of the troupe."

After hearing this, Team Leader Huang immediately turned pale and quickly went to organize people to start the show.

"Master, Sister Xiaoyu's makeup hasn't been finished yet."

Backstage, someone told Team Leader Huang.

Team leader Huang hurried to Xiaoyu's room.

But he didn't dare to break in directly. If his hand shook like this and ruined the makeup, it would be all over.

Knocked on the door: "But are you ready? Your distinguished guest is waiting impatiently."

"It'll be ready soon." Xiao Yu's voice came from inside.

Team leader Huang didn't dare to leave, so he just waited at the door.

Indeed, it didn't take long for the door to open and Xiaoyu came out with her makeup done.

Leader Huang did not dare to put pressure. He knew very well that if he spoke too harshly, the actor would be too worried and would easily make mistakes.

Xiaoyu was also a little surprised that the class leader was waiting here.

Knowing that something might be important, he quickly followed him to the backstage.

In the theater, with the sound of a gong, the play finally began.

Xiaoyu, as the lead actor, was the first to take the stage.

As soon as I stepped on stage and looked inside, my heart skipped a beat.

Because in the huge theater, there are only three people in the private room on the second floor.

This means that this place is reserved.

This is the first time such a thing has happened since the Liyuan opened.

Normally, this place is not full.

Xiaoyu knew that it was definitely not a bad business, but that this lord was so powerful that ordinary nobles didn't even have the qualifications to go to the theater with him.

The actors in the backstage also found out about this, and suddenly they screamed loudly.

Team leader Huang saw that the secret channel was not good, so he quickly comforted him: "Just play yourself well, don't think too much about it."

After finishing speaking, his eyes were fixed on Xiaoyu who came on stage.

Seeing him in a daze, his heart suddenly went cold.