The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 278 Counterattack?

"The orioles are chirping in my dream, and the years of chaos are spreading, and people are building small courtyards and deep courtyards."

"The smoke has disappeared from the stick, and the remaining embroidery thread has been thrown away. Is this spring just like last year?"

"When dawn comes, I look down at Meiguan, and my makeup is still there."

"You wear your Yichun bun on your side just right in front of you."

"The threads are endless, the logic is still chaotic, and it is boring for no reason."

"I have paid to urge the flowers and birds to take advantage of the spring to see them."

"Chunxiang, have you ever asked someone to clean up the flower paths?"

"Ordered."

"Bring me the clothes for the mirror."

Two thousand Qi gold yuan coupons are equivalent to more than 6,500 Daqin silver dollars, which can be converted into more than 5,000 taels of silver. This is definitely a huge amount for an actor.

Du Liniang, a daughter of an official family, fell in love with Liu Mengmei, a scholar in her dream, but she died of grief. She turned into a soul to find her lover in the world, fell in love with ghosts, and finally came back to life, finally marrying Liu Mengmei forever. This mysterious and beautiful dream made all the viewers intoxicated.

Although the size and shape of this large theater appear to be a bit old and outdated compared to the large number of theater stages that have been built in succession, it is still one of the most prestigious stage performance venues in Chang'an City.

Not to mention, in a city like Chang'an with a stronger humanistic atmosphere and academic ideas, it has attracted the love of people from many walks of life, so much so that the streets are packed with people.

"Yu Niang, you haven't given up on that young man yet." Tan Yonggui said with a gloomy face and a cold tone: "Don't you want to follow that barbarian so that you can stay in Qi and live a happy life?"

"Master..." Yu Niang's expression darkened, she stood up and bowed slightly to him, frowning slightly, biting her lower lip tightly with her teeth, and with the costumes and costumes that had not been completely taken off, she gave people a feeling that I was still seeing him. The feeling of pity.

"..."

The reason why this opera has aroused the popularity of many people in Qi State is that it breaks through the conflict between emotion and reason in traditional Chinese ethics and morals, and encourages people to try to pursue a kind of "love", "the living can die, The ideal view of love that "the dead can live" caters to the "appetite" of Qi people who are more open-minded and free.

After the performance, the actors were taking off their makeup backstage. The class leader, Tan Yonggui, clasped his hands and walked in gracefully. He then stood directly beside the woman playing Du Liniang and looked at her with a playful expression.

After coming to Qi, in order to cater to the Qi audience, Tan Jiaban specially gave her a stage name that was quite Qi-style, Qiuting.

"Yu Niang, your infatuated young man is here again."

"Master, I didn't..." Yu Niang said in a low voice.

Guanghe Building, located on Qianwu Street in Zhuque District, Chang'an, is a large theater with a long history. As early as more than 60 years ago when Chang'an City was first built, it was planned and built together with many commercial facilities at that time.

The "Tan Family Troupe", a Kunqu opera performer from Wuzhong in the Qin Dynasty, came to Chang'an more than a month ago and began to perform the most classic opera "The Peony Pavilion" in Guanghe Building, and continued its success in Jianye, triggering It caused a huge sensation in Chang'an City, and countless Chang'an citizens bought tickets to watch.

The audience was deeply attracted by the wonderful plot and the outstanding performances of the actors, and they talked about the development and ending of the plot. After the performance, many interested spectators will flock to the stage, hoping to see the actors up close.

"After combing her bun, she returns to the mirror, and her robe is about to be changed to make it even more fragrant."

Of course, the Tan Family Troupe will not only perform the classic love drama "The Peony Pavilion", they will also perform plays such as "The Story of the Embroidered Coat" and "The Story of the Hosta", as well as "The Story of the Righteous Hero", which caters to the male youth's heroic spirit. , which really meets the viewing needs of countless people.

"Then why does he come to the theater every day? And he wants to see Miss Qiuting by name?" Tan Yonggui said with a bit of sarcasm, "You shouldn't say that he likes to listen to the plays of our Tan family class, right?"

It is said that even Emperor Yonglong came to watch it with his queen in disguise and spoke highly of it.

"..." A look of pain appeared on Yu Niang's face, "Master, I have already told him not to bother him again. But..., but..."

"However, I am obsessed with you just to see you every day." Tan Yonggui snorted coldly, "In the past few days, I have also asked people to find out. Although the Yimanzi is also a serious Qi person, his ancestors But he escaped from the barbarian country in the far west. Apart from having a little wealth, he is just an ordinary commoner in Qi State, with no power or authority. If you want to rely on him, you will probably have to leave the Tan family class. Wrong idea. Of course, if you can get him to come up with two thousand national gold coins, I won't be able to help you. "

Dong Xiaowan, one of the eight beauties of Qinhuai, fell in love with Maoxiang. After all the hard work and with the help of her friend Liu Rushi and her husband Qian Qianyi, they only paid a ransom fee of 3,000 taels of silver.

You must know that during this period, ordinary people of Great Qin may not be able to save ten Great Qin silver dollars after working hard for a year. Even a wealthy landlord with a hundred acres of farmland in the countryside can only earn a net income of one hundred and ten silver dollars a year.

Even in Qi State, where the people are wealthy, the people are well-off, and the income is extremely high, if you want to save two thousand Qi State gold yuan coupons, you have to eat and drink, and it will take almost ten years.

Before Tan Yonggui came to Qi, in order to prevent actors from leaving the Tan family troupe without permission, he signed a loan contract with everyone. Important characters in the theater troupe, such as Tan Master and Yu Niang, agreed on the loan amount. As high as two to three thousand yuan.

The reason for this is that Gein in Qi State did not recognize the actor's contract of sale in his hand at all. There is a legal provision that everyone is equal, without exception.

In other words, in Qi State, you cannot control the personal freedom of actors by relying on their prostitution contracts. As long as you leave the troupe, you are a free person, and after marrying a Qi State person, you can apply for Qi State naturalization - despite the procedures The process is a bit long, but at least it gets rid of the constraints of personal attachment.

In the Qi State, there is no such thing as selling oneself into slavery - even the native coolies who work in plantations in many overseas territories have signed a "fair" work contract on the bright side. If you file a lawsuit with the local government, the Dali Temple judges will ignore you and will kick you out.

If you dare to arrest and detain someone privately, you will be treated with sticks and guns by the local military police.

In the past few decades, many Daqin businessmen brought the so-called "literary and artistic workers" such as brothel courtesans and Qinhuai Mingyan to Qi to make money. However, they were accidentally abducted by young talents from Hanzhou. When you go to ask for an explanation with the so-called deed of sale, you will be spat in front of your face, saying that Daqi does not have such a personal binding contract, let alone recognize this kind of sale with the nature of slavery. Deed.

You should know that when Da Qin merchants sailed ships offshore and stopped in Qi's overseas territories, they would strictly restrict the sailors and workers on the ship from disembarking to avoid the phenomenon of "lost" people. Well, you, the businessman of Daqin, actually took the initiative to bring all the stunning beauties or talented singers and actresses to the Qi State.

In the Qin Dynasty, if a wealthy family falls in love with a brothel girl or an actor with both sex and art, they will discuss with the owner and pay a large ransom fee in order to get the beauty back.

But in Qi State, those shameless prostitutes can kidnap women directly with some sweet words, and they will not give you a penny, and they will just beat you to pieces, leaving nothing behind.

Who told the people of Qi not to recognize slavery!
Later, the people of Qin who suffered a lot of losses also learned wisely. When they brought beautiful oirans and talented actors to Qi to seek money, they would sign a high-dollar loan deed with them in advance.

Doesn’t your state of Qi declare that private property is sacred and inviolable? Aren’t we strictly protecting personal rights and interests?

Well, these women or actors all owe me a lot of money, so it’s no problem to let them perform shows to repay the money. If some unscrupulous Qi traitor abducts someone again, then he must first pay off the woman's debt, right?

Not to mention, the judges of Dali Temple in various places in Qi State really recognized these claims and debts, with written words in black and white, signatures and pledges. Naturally, they needed to pay back the money they owed, and they were not allowed to default on their debts.

Think about it, whether it is a beautiful courtesan or an actor with both talents, from being bought when he was a child to being able to perform on stage now, it took more than ten years of hard training, how much energy and money was spent, even if it is necessary If you sell it, you need to get a return of several times or even ten times!

Furthermore, when they went through the normal procedures to leave Da Qin, in order to prevent the people within the country from fleeing to other countries without authorization, the government collected a high departure deposit from them, and several guarantors were provided as guarantees.

If you count the heads when you return to Da Qin and find that a few people are missing and have not returned, not to mention that the deposit paid will be deducted as appropriate, even the guarantor will have to bear the corresponding responsibility.

Therefore, as the head of the Tan family class, Tan Yonggui was deeply wary of the young talents from Qi who fell in love with Yu Niang, and would come over from time to time to give a few words of warning.

"Yu Niang, do you really have no affection for that Qi boy with a foreign face?" After seeing the class leader Tan Yonggui hurriedly ran out to greet him when he heard that a Qi noble was coming, Tan Qingshan, the pillar of the Tan family class, quietly said He came over and asked with concern.

"...Would it be of any benefit to me to be righteous?" Yuniang replied with a sad expression.

"What if that young man is willing to pay you 2,000 yuan in gold coins to redeem your life?"

"Ha..., if that's the case, then of course I have to follow him." Yu Niang glanced at him and smiled self-deprecatingly, "But with my status, how can I get the treatment of being redeemed with a lot of money? Young Mu Mu "Ai, it's difficult for me, but if I really want to spend such a large sum of money, even if the young Ke family has strong financial resources, I'm afraid he will think twice."

"Actually, it would be a blessing for you if you can really marry the young Ke family of Qi State." Tan Qingshan sighed, "If you return to Da Qin, you will marry a merchant woman in the future. It is said that we will face all kinds of harsh criticism and abuse from our masters, even if our status is like that of a slave, for us actors, the treatment we receive is not much better. "

"You won't encounter this kind of thing in Qi State?" Yu Niang smiled sadly.

"Yu Niang, have you ever read newspapers or books in the past six months or so in Qi State?" Tan Qingshan shook his head and said: "This Qi State is really different from our Da Qin. Even if you are the concubine of the master's family, you are still the same in Qi State. Enjoy full personal and status protection, prohibit unwarranted abuse and harsh punishment from the master, and the children born have the right to inherit their parents' property (the eldest son has priority). If the young man of the Ke family is willing to marry you, then your future. Life will be full of hardships, and your destiny will be completely changed."

"..." Yu Niang stared blankly at this senior brother who was ten years older than her, with mixed feelings in her heart.

The two of them are in the same theater troupe, get along day and night, and often perform on the same stage. If they don't have any feelings for each other, they are definitely deceiving themselves.

Moreover, as the pillar of the troupe, Tan Qingshan respects everyone and still has some say in the eyes of the troupe leader. Therefore, he takes care of and protects her in every way on weekdays, allowing her to avoid a lot of bullying and harsh criticism.

In the girl's heart, there is not a trace of fantasy and expectation.

As for the boy from the Ke family with a foreign face, to be honest, she really didn't take a fancy to him.

In addition to the short time of contact and lack of understanding and understanding of each other, more importantly, the completely different looks are really not in her "aesthetic point".

In her opinion, the boy from the Ke family was probably too fond of the image of Du Liniang she played, so she had some feelings of admiration for her.

However, in the process of contacting and communicating with him, I couldn't help but be attracted by his good conversation and extensive knowledge, but it was definitely not a life-and-death love like Dong Xiaowan and Mao Xiang.

In her fantasy, the most perfect love should be between a talented man and a beautiful woman like in "The Peony Pavilion" and "The Romance of the West Chamber". The man is as graceful as jade and full of poetry, and the woman is as beautiful as an immortal, gentle and gentle. In front of the flowers and under the moon, recite poems and make love, and be that loving couple who "only envy mandarin ducks but not immortals".

However, when Tan Qingshan said these words, all her beautiful illusions were shattered.

Yes, as an actor, how can I expect such beautiful love and have the right to choose my own future life.

As Tan Qingshan said, for their low-level status, the best destination is to "marry as a business woman" and become the concubine of a wealthy family, thereby slightly raising their humble social status to a higher level.

But now when I arrived in Qi State, I met a young man from Qi State who was infatuated with himself. Although he had a barbarian face, he was a serious Qi State person, and his family behind him had strong financial resources. If she became his concubine, she would still be able to marry him. According to the laws of Qi State, she has since become a "free" person, and her body is no longer dependent on anyone.

Even going one step further, if a boy from the Ke family directly marries her as his wife, it will be like reaching the sky in one step and becoming a truly "independent personality" woman of Qi State, with a social status that Dong Xiaowan, who was once "the most talented and beautiful", has never had. .

During more than half a year in Qi, she found that the people of Qi did not seem to be particularly discriminatory or disparaging towards women with their status as actors, but only regarded them as stage performers with special talents.

There are practitioners similar to them in Qi State, including storytellers, commentators, singers, dancers, and various opera performers. There are even many equestrians, juggling, horse racing, Cuju (i.e. football), handball, and tennis Practitioners of various acrobatics such as dancing, wrestling, and fighting are all sought after and supported by countless people in Qi.

In the State of Qi, there seems to be no "low-grade industry", let alone dividing the entire society into three, six or nine grades, and there are no special boundaries and frameworks for various industries.

The worker in the factory may have been a farmer yesterday, and the performer singing on the stage may have been just a shop assistant before, a powerful government official. His ancestors may have been refugees who fled Qi State earlier.

In the State of Qi, although there are also powerful and wealthy families, this country has given all social strata a fair chance to rise upwards, whether they are farmers, workers, or even those who clean toilets, as long as they work hard and use their heart. Business may not be able to cultivate children into talents, so that they can rise against the trend and reach the pinnacle of life.

So, as an actor from Da Qin, can he also achieve a change of status and a class jump in Qi?

(End of this chapter)